Fire
by BooksBeforeLife
Summary: Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Johanna, Finnick, and Annie all lived in an apartment building that was burned down by a terrorist. They find themselves living together in a house with almost none of there old things. What surprises will they find? The story is much better than the summary. I use the genre of tragedy very loosely. AU. Rated T mostly for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Johanna, Finnick, and Annie all live in the same apartment building. They are offered a safe house when a terrorist burns the building to the ground. They will be stuck there until the apartments are rebuilt.**

**Disclaimer: If you've read the series, you should know what I own and what I don't.**

_**Chapter 1**_

**Katniss's POV**

I stare at the building, which- until this morning- was my home. I grabbed a spare pair of shoes, a pair of jeans, and a T-shirt before I ran out of the burning building. That's all I have.

**Peeta's POV**

I can't believe it's burned. I've lived there since I was a little boy. All I have left is a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and my worn out sneakers. I can't believe everything else is . . . gone.

**Gale's POV**

This sucks. I should've grabbed some money off of my desk before I left. Now I just have jeans and sandals. I feel the fury building up inside of me.

**Johanna's POV**

This is fucking shit. I am so pissed off at these dumbass terrorists. Would it have killed them to bomb a different apartment building?! All I have now is freaking pajamas and slippers!

**Finnick's POV**

I wish it had occurred to me to grab something- anything- before I left. I just have my damn boxers and sweatpants. Why was I so fucking stupid?

**Annie's POV**

I feel my sanity slipping. Jason is dead. I saw my baby brother engulfed in the flames. He was only twenty one. I'm losing my mind.

**Johanna's POV**

Everyone here is in hysterics. One brunette is braiding and un-braiding her hair over and over and over again. An attractive man with tan skin and bronze hair is fiddling with a rope. A blond man in sweatpants is biting his fingernails. Another woman is on the phone, claiming again and again that "Jason is dead!" Maybe Jason's a pet, maybe a roommate that didn't make it out, maybe a husband. I have no idea.

A balding man approaches me with some cash. "Miss, we're bringing everyone to a house where they can live in until the apartment is rebuilt. It is stocked with food and furniture but we are giving everyone two-hundred dollars for new clothes until you either find a job or get your next paycheck. Only eighteen people made it out so we have three houses, each with six beds."

"You're giving us two-hundred dollars for clothes!? How the hell am I supposed to work with that, dumbass!?" I snap at him.

"It's all we have. I'm sorry," he quickly retreats.

I chuckle. "You're afraid of me? Good."

**Finnick's POV**

"Okay, so this house is for-" he looks at his paper, "Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Johanna Mason, Finnick Odair, and Annie Cresta."

I walk up to the house with five other people. The man continues, "This house has three bedrooms, so each of you will have a roommate-"

"Oh, joy," a woman with pale skin, big brown eyes, and dark brown hair cut into a pixie cut- she's really quite pretty- says sarcastically.

"As I was saying," the man looks annoyed, "All the bedrooms are on the second floor. There is a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. Enjoy your new home."

We all walk in and hurry up to the second floor. "I'll take this room," the girl with the pixie cut says.

"Me too," a girl with a braid falling down her shoulder leans against the wall.

A blond man and a guy with dark brown hair take the next room. I look at the woman remaining. She has wavy, light brown hair and sad eyes. She beautiful, but not in the traditional way. "I guess we get the last room."

She smiles sadly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"How about we all go downstairs and get to know each other?" the blond man suggests and we all agree.

I sit on a couch in the living room next to my roommate and pixie cut girl. "I'm Peeta," the blond man tells us.

"I'm Gale," the other man says.

"Katniss," the girl with the braid says.

"I'm Annie," my roommate tells everyone.

"Finnick," I smile my signature, crooked smile.

"I'm Johanna," pixie cut girl puts her feet up on the table.

"Um, okay," Peeta says. "Now let's say our jobs. I'm a baker. I work at the bakery downtown."

"That's so cool," Katniss beams. "I used to take my sister there all the time! I'm a music teacher, by the way. I teach at Los Angeles Elementary."

"I'm a bartender," Gale tells us.

"I guess I'm a bit like a sculptor," Johanna smiles. "I make wood carvings and sell them. I think they're pretty good."

"I'm a swimwear model," I cross my legs.

Johanna looks at me. "_You're_ a swimwear model!?"

"Yeah, I am. So what?" I ask her.

She smiles. "I just think that's hilarious."

"What about you, Annie?" Peeta asks.

"I'm unemployed. I was a swim coach in college but now, my brother brought home most of the money. He was my roommate and he didn't make it out." She chokes and covers her mouth.

"Annie, I'm so sorry," I put my arm around her. "If you want, you could get a job where I work. I do about half my shoots at the pool-" Johanna hardly stifles a laugh. "And I could help you get a job as a swim coach there."

"Really?" she looks up at me. "That would be great. Thanks."

"Who wants to go shopping with me tomorrow?" Johanna asks and everyone raises their hand. "Awesome! But it's getting late, we should probably go to sleep."

**Katniss's POV**

I sit at the dining room table, eating a pastry. Johanna talked on the phone with her boyfriend until 3 a.m. and I am beyond tired.

"I love Sundays," Johanna exclaims. "Because I don't have to work! Are you guys ready to go?"

We all nod and she says, "Good because I want to get out of these fucking pajamas! Let's go!"

We follow her out the door and get into Finnick's truck. Johanna sits in the front seat and I get stuck between Peeta and Gale.

"Where are we going?" Finnick asks Johanna.

"Marshalls," Johanna tells him.

"Great," Finnick says.

We're an odd looking group. Johanna is wearing footy pajamas. Finnick and Gale are shirtless. Peeta is wearing sweats and a sweatshirt. Annie's in a nightgown. In fact, I'm the only person who's dressed relatively normal in my jeans and T-shirt.

By the end of our shopping trip everyone is dressed like a normal person. Johanna is wearing red jean-shorts and a white skull tank top with a net-like thing in the back. Annie is dressed in blue jeans and long sleeved black shirt. Finnick is wearing shorts and a muscle-shirt. Peeta and Gale are in jeans and a T-shirt. I'm wearing the same thing I was earlier.

"I guess we should head home," I say. "We have a long day tomorrow."

**I hope you liked the start of this story. Please review and tell me your thoughts!**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

**Peeta's POV**

"Peeta! We were worried sick," Janice runs up to me and tackles me with a hug. "The news about your apartment building is all over the place. I heard that less than twenty people made it out!"

"Yeah," I tell her. "They offered us all a place to stay while they rebuild the apartments. One of the girls I'm living with lost her brother in the fire. Right now, I'm living with a sculptor, who has a _lot_ of opinions, a teacher, who seems pretty cool, a soon-to-be swim coach, she's the one who lost her brother, a male swimsuit model, I think that says enough about him, and a bartender, who sleeps in the bed next to mine. We're quite a group."

"Wow," Janice smiles up at me, her wrinkles creasing. "Hey! Everyone come out of the kitchen! Peeta's here!"

Roberto, Kelly, and Jared all come out of the kitchen and beam at me.

"Pete," Jared starts. "We're so glad you made it out!"

"Peeta, what would we have done without you?" Kelly kisses both of my cheeks.

"Seriously, man, we didn't think you made it," Roberto leans against the counter.

"Well, I did, and these pastries aren't gonna make themselves," I smile at them. "Let's get baking!"

God, I love my job.

**Finnick's POV**

"Hey, Finn, who's this?" my boss comes up to me.

"Mr. Tanner, meet Annie Cresta. She lived in my apartment building and I'm sure you heard all about that. She needs a job as swim coach," I smile. "Do you think you could help her with that?"

"Of course," Mr. Tanner beams at us. "This pool never seems to have enough swim coaches! I could get you an interview with the pool manager at about noon."

"That would be great," Annie says, "Thank you so much! I really need something like this to take my mind off . . . things."

"You should walk around the neighborhood a bit," I suggest. "Get a feel for it."

She smiles a little bit. "Okay, thanks, Finnick."

Mr. Tanner leads me to hair and makeup. "What was that about?" he asks me.

"Her little brother died in the fire. The rest of her family lives in New Orleans. She's really upset," I tell him.

"Give her my best wishes," Mr. Tanner pats my back. "Now off you go."

**Katniss's POV**

"And finally, we would like to keep our music teacher, Ms. Everdeen, in our thoughts and prayers today. Her house burned down on Saturday. We hope everyone has a great day," the speaker clicks off as the morning announcements end.

I sit at the piano, doing vocal warm-ups, until Mrs. Jett's fifth graders come to their class. "Ms. Everdeen, I heard about what happened to your apartment building on the news yesterday! Is it true that only eighteen people made it out?" Leila, one of my favorite students, asks me.

"I'm afraid so, Leila, but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," I tell her. "I've already made five new friends because of what happened." More like four because Johanna drives me insane but she doesn't have to know that.

"Ms. Everdeen, I made you a card!" Grady, an autistic boy, hands me a folded piece of paper with writing on it.

"That's very thoughtful, Grady," I say after I read it. "I'll tell my new roommates that you are praying for us."

"My mom told me I should get you flowers," a girl named Wendy walks up to me. "But I didn't have time yesterday, so I'll bring them tomorrow."

"That's very nice, but I don't need any flowers. Just knowing that you and your mom are supporting me makes me feel better."

I play a quick four-note melody before saying, "Okay, everyone take your seats. We have a lot of learning to do today."

"Ms. Everdeen," a mean girl named Rebecca starts, "My mother told me that you're now living with a male swimwear model. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

I want to rip her head off but instead I smile. "As a matter of fact, I am. He's a very nice man. In fact, today, he's helping this nice lady get a job. There is nothing inappropriate about him."

I guess it's time for another long day at school.

**Annie's POV**

"You must be Annie," a woman, who looks like she's in her mid forties, comes out and shakes my hand. "I'm Sandy Banks, the pool manager. Please come in."

I follow her into the office and sit down. "So, Annie, why do you want this job?"

"Well, about five years ago, when I was twenty, I was a swim coach at my college. I really loved it but once I finished undergraduate, my little brother and I moved into an apartment together. He got a job at a hair salon and that's how we got most of our money. Since, the apartment burned down, I need a job. I just loved being a swim coach so much, I want to do it again."

"And what is your brother going to do? Is he going to continue working as a barber?" Sandy asks me.

"He," I take a deep breath so I can finish my sentence, "Didn't make it out of the fire."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she says.

"It's not your fault," I tell her.

"Well, Annie, if you can pass a few swim tests, I think we could use you here. I'll get you a swimsuit out of the closet."

She brings back a black one piece, with a green stripe at the top. I quickly change and head out to the pool. I put my hair up in a high-ponytail and wait for instructions.

"Do a backflip off the highdive," she instructs.

I do and she nods. "Dive off the lowdive."

Once again, I do and she nods. "Swim ten laps."

We go on like that for another couple of minutes before she tells me that I don't have to do anything else and that I got the job.

"Keep the swimsuit," she says as she hands me a towel. I pick up my stuff and start walking to the truck.

"Hey, Annie!" I look over and see Finnick waving at me from a different pool. "Wanna come watch the rest of my shoot?"

"Sure," I call back to him and walk over. He's a really good model. He's holding his own- which I suppose isn't very hard because he's gorgeous- next to two female models with him.

I give him a thumbs up but my smile falters for a moment. One of the female models puts their hand on his chest and leans against his shoulder. I feel a pang of jealousy.

I quickly dismiss it as irrational. There's nothing romantic between Finnick and me. There must be something wrong with my head.

**Johanna's POV**

"Jo, turn your ass around so I can fully appreciate that dress!" Dustin, a gay guy from work, orders.

I quickly spin around. The top part of my dress looks like a dark blue tank top, but there's a thick, silver belt around my waist, and the skirt part is a blue and white pattern. I'm wearing silver wedges to top it off.

"Jo, Remy told us that you made it out, but lost almost all your stuff. That must've sucked," Ian- the man who works the cashier tells me.

"Yeah," I say. "Where's Remy?"

I feel arms wrap around my waist. "Right here," he breathes against my neck.

"Hey, babe," I turn around and kiss him.

"You are the cutest couple ever," Dustin exclaims. "Now, come over here and work."

I pull away from him and walk over to Dustin. We're kind of like . . . instore models for the hardware store. Except we actually carve things. Ian works the cashier and Remy does the woodcutting in the back.

I couldn't ask for a better job.

**Gale's POV**

I pull up to the bar at seven o'clock. I lock my car and hurry inside. "Hawthorne, I am so sorry 'bout your apartment," Rita tells me as she picks up some drinks from the bar. "I heard that you're living with five strangers now."

"Yep," I say as I hop over the bar counter. "Katniss, Finnick, Annie, Johanna, and Peeta. We're all really . . . different types of people."

"What do you mean?" she asks me.

"We have a male model and an elementary school music teacher in the same house. Does that answer your question?" I smile at her.

"A male model, huh?" she grins. "Get me his number."

"Rita, you seem to conveniently forget the fact that you're engaged," I remind her and she makes a pouty face.

"Don't remind me," she frowns. "It's a fucking arranged marriage. Our parents had our fates decided since we were toddlers."

"Maybe you could have a one-night-stand with some attractive stranger," I suggest and she chuckles.

"Maybe I will," she brings another couple drinks to a table and I smile at her.

I used to have the biggest crush on her. I mean, tan skin, wavy, blond hair, and huge boobs. But then I got to know her better. Now, I see her as a friend.

I get some drinks ready and smile. Time for another night at the bar.

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Katniss's POV**

"Okay, I love you," Johanna says into her phone as I grit my teeth. It's one a.m.. "You should hang up now. We have to work tomorrow." Her boyfriend says something. "Remy, no, I'm not doing this stupid hang up game. We're not fifteen years old." He says something else. "This isn't funny. It's stupid and pointless." She's laughing anyway.

"I think I'll hang up," I snatch the phone away from her and press end.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she shouts at me. "That's an iPhone4S! It's expensive!"

"I'm a freaking teacher! I need sleep! I can't have you talking about useless nonsense until one a.m.!" I yell back.

"God, you're such a bitch," she screams at me.

"Would you both shut the fuck up?" Gale swings open the door followed by Peeta. These walls are paper-thin! You're screaming woke us up!"

Johanna leans against the door frame. "I cannot de al with lil' miss perfect anymore! Will one of you please switch rooms with me?"

"Yeah, right," I scoff. "You act like I'm the problem!"

"You're both the problem," Peeta yells at us. "I care about sleep, so I'll switch with you!"

"Fine," Johanna stalks out of the room.

"Fine," I call back.

**Finnick POV**

"RUN!"

I yawn and walk over to Annie's bed. She's having another nightmare. Once or twice every night, she'll be thrashing and muttering, "Run, Jason, run!"

I gently shake her shoulder. "Annie, wake up. It's just another bad dream." Whenever she has a dream like this, I wake her up. I don't want her to have to go through it.

She opens her eyes and wipes a few tears away. "Did I wake you, again?" she asks.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it," I tell her. "I don't mind much."

"What time is it?" she questions.

"About 5:30," I frown as I look at my phone.

"Well, I might as well get up," she pushes the covers away and walks into the bathroom. She turns on the shower and, after a few minutes, I go in as well.

Annie has the shower curtain pulled so I can only vaguely see her shadow. I brush my teeth and look in the mirror. I try to flatten my hair a bit, but it doesn't work well, so I just walk downstairs and into the kitchen. I make myself some black coffee.

I sit at the kitchen table and wait for someone to come downstairs. Annie comes down a few minutes later and gets a glass of orange juice.

"How do you drink black coffee?" Annie asks as she sits down next to me. "It's disgusting. You should try some cream and sugar with it."

"Men drink black coffee. Women drink coffee with cream and sugar," I shrug.

"You did not just say that," she laughs and takes my coffee from me. She grabs vanilla creamer from the fridge and pours some of it in. Then, she puts a packet of splenda in it."

"Stir it and then sip," she instructs.

I do and immediately see that she's right. "Fine, men no longer only drink black coffee."

"Good, Finnick," she jokes.

"I'm not a dog," I remind her and she chuckles.

**Peeta's POV**

I crawl out of bed at 6:30 and wake up Johanna. "We have to switch our stuff." We quickly move all our belongings to the other room and then I go downstairs.

"Peeta," Finnick says as soon as I get down the steps. "Go make some food!"

I walk into the kitchen and start baking breakfast. "How long have you guys been down here?" I ask them.

"About an hour and a half," Annie informs me.

"Why did you get up so early?" I put the dough in the oven.

"Nightmare," Finnick replies.

"You had a nightmare?" I ask him, a bit confused.

"Annie did," he clarifies. "I don't dream."

"Actually, you dream hundreds of times every night," Katniss comes into the kitchen. "You just don't remember them."

"Know-it-all," Johanna's right behind her.

"Johanna, you always sleep in. What are you doing up?" Finnick asks her.

"Peeta woke me up so I could move my stuff out of his room," she makes herself some black coffee.

"She drinks black coffee," Annie looks at Finnick.

"You won, Annie. We already established that," he leans back in his chair.

I pour a glass of milk and take a sip before pulling the croissants out of the oven. "Breakfast is ready," I put the pan on the table. "It's hot."

"Gale, food's ready," Johanna calls up the stairs. "Wake up!"

I grab a croissant and take a bite. "What time is it?" I ask.

"7 o'clock," Annie tells me.

"Shit," I mutter. "I have to go. I'm gonna be late for work."

**Gale's POV**

"Where is everyone?" I ask Finnick and Annie.

"At work," Finnick tells me.

"What about you guys?" I question.

"The pool's closed," Annie says. "It's my bosses daughter's birthday."

"The beach is cloudy," Finnick replies.

"Oh. Do you guys want to go to the hardware store with me?" I ask them.

"Sure," they say in unison.

We all get dressed and leave. "What hardware store are we going to?" Annie asks me.

"This one my friend told me about. It's kind of small but it has a lot of good stuff," I inform them. "Only four people work there on a daily basis."

"Sounds cool," Finnick says from the backseat. "What do you need anyway?"

"I need to get some wood cut for a friend," I tell them.

In a few minutes, we get to the store. "Hey, guys," Johanna says.

"Hey, Johanna," I say before thinking. "Wait. Johanna?"

"Yeah," I look over at her as she looks at me like an idiot. "What do you need?"

"Um . . . to get some wood cut," I tell her.

"Remy does that," she says. "I'll show you wear he is."

"Remy?" I ask. "As in your boyfriend?"

"Yeah." She leads us to the back of the store and to a man with shaggy, auburn hair. "Remy, this is Finnick, Gale, and Annie. They're some of my roommates. They need you to cut something."

She walks away and Remy tilts his head at the three of us. "So you are her roommates?" he questions.

"Some of them," Annie answers, "Peeta and Katniss are working."

"Yeah?" he's not looking at Annie though. He keeps his gaze locked on Finnick and occasionally glances at me.

"I'm gonna go talk to Johanna," Annie picks up on the fact that she isn't wanted here.

As soon as she's out of hearing range he leans forward. "If either of you lay a finger on her I will rip your throats out!"

"Who?" Finnick asks. "Annie?"

"Don't be a dumbass. Jo!" he clarifies and I chuckle.

"You don't have anything to worry about," I reassure him. "If you didn't know, your girlfriend's a bit of a bitch."

"I know that," he growls. "Some men like that!"

"Look, Johanna can take care of herself," Finnick crosses his arms.

"Plus, she wouldn't cheat on you. She drove Katniss so insane talking to you, that she had to switch beds with Peeta," I inform him.

"So, now she's sharing a room with you?!" he's practically hissing at us.

"Yeah, and Finnick shares a room with Annie and Peeta shares with Katniss," I say. "Now, can I please get some wood cut?"

**Johanna's POV**

"Are they both strait?" Dustin asks when I get back to him.

"Dustin!" I exclaim, "What's wrong with you?!"

"How about bi?" he asks and we both laugh.

"Sorry, you're out of luck," I tell him and turn back to my work.

"Johanna, did you make this?" I look up and see Annie looking at a carving I made. I didn't see her come over.

"Yeah," I tell her. "Do you like it?"

"It's gorgeous," she says. "How do you do this?"

I shrug. "Practice."

"Why do you call her Johanna?" Dustin asks Annie. "Everyone else calls her Jo."

"You, Ian, and Remy are the only ones who call me Jo," I remind him. "I've told you that many times."

"Oh. Well, you should start going by Jo," he says.

"I like Jo," Annie sits down in a chair next to me. "I'm going to make everyone call you Jo."

I sigh. "Fine. From now on, my name is Jo."

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Johanna's POV**

"Remy, this is stupid," I argue. "You're being a jealous freak!"

"Jo, I don't like them," he continues. "I don't like either of them. They're dangerous guys."

"You met them today," I exclaim. "This might be the dumbest thing you've ever said! Remy, you know I love you, but we're talking about good guys! You're wrong!"

He starts to argue again but I cut him off. "It's late. We'll talk about this tomorrow."

I hang up the phone and collapse into my bed. "He doesn't like us," Gale says, not tearing his eyes away from his book.

"No shit," I look at him. "Jealousy is the best fucking way to start a fight."

He shrugs. "I guess it's pretty bad, but I still think lying is the worst."

"Well, yeah. Lying is it's own separate category," I say, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"We should sleep," Gale reminds me. "It's really late." He leans over and turns off the lamp.

**Annie's POV**

"Now, that everyone's awake," I start, "I need to talk to you guys about something."

Everyone at the kitchen table looks up from their food. "Christmas is in fifteen days away, and my parents were planning on coming to my apartment, but since it burned down . . . I told them they could come here. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

"Nope," Katniss says and turns back to her coffee, and Peeta, Gale, and Johanna shake their heads.

"I'm not even going to be here," Finnick tells me. "I'm going to Kansas City to visit my parents. I leave on Monday."

"Great," I smile. "That means my parents can sleep in our room."

"Yeah," he shrugs. "Are you ready for work?"

I nod and grab my purse. Finnick and I get up and walk to his car. "Is your shoot at the beach or the pool today?" I ask him.

"Beach," he informs me. "I'll pick you up at three o'clock."

"Okay," I say. "If I finish early, I'll walk down and watch the end of your shoot."

I hop out of the car and he drives off.

**Katniss's POV**

"Katniss, will you grab my lunch from the fridge?" Lisa, a third grade teacher who works at my school, asks me.

"Sure," I push my chair back and walk to the fridge.

I grab it just as I hear a voice say, "Hey, dumbass."

_Oh, no. Please, no. Please tell me I'm just imagining this. _

I whirl around and see Johanna standing in the doorway to the teacher's lounge. "Hey, Jo. Why are you here? Why are you at the place where I work?"

"You forgot your lunch," she holds out a paper bag. "Gale suggested I take it to you on my way to work."

"Who's Gale?" Lisa asks.

"One of my roommates," I tell her. I grab the bag from Johanna.

"How many roommates do you have?" Lisa seems confused.

"Five," Johanna answers for me. "Annie, Finnick, Peeta, Gale, and me. By the way, Peeta wants you to stop leaving your bras laying around. He's tired of picking them up."

"Oh, my god, shut up," I snap. "You're embarrassing me! Next time, just send Peeta, Gale, or Annie. Even Finnick would be better than you!"

She just laughs. "Yeah, okay. Bye."

I slide into my chair and take a bite of my sandwich. "Your life is . . . interesting," Lisa puts her cast up on a chair.

"That's the understatement of the century," I mutter.

"Did they live in your apartment building?" Lisa asks me and I nod. "Are they all . . . as bad as her?"

I laugh. "No, she's the worst. The rest are pretty good. I mean, they all have problems, but none of them are unbearable."

"Who was that?" Cole walks into the teachers' lounge. "The woman with the pixie cut? I passed her in the hallway."

"My roommate," I take a bite of my apple.

"She's pretty," he sits down. "Is she single?

"No, and you would hate her," I say. "Trust me. She's awful."

"Katniss, I'm sure you're overreacting," Cole chuckles.

"When she came in, she greeted me with 'hey, dumbass.' She's really horrible," I tell him.

"Do any of your roommates like her?" Lisa asks.

"Everyone except Peeta and me," I lean back in the chair.

"And Peeta is?" Cole asks.

"He's the baker," I tell him.

"Which one's the model, again?"

"That's Finnick," I say.

"Why do we like each other more than the other teachers?" Beth asks randomly.

"Because we're the only ones under sixty," Cole jokes.

"Spoken like a true dumbass."

**Finnick's POV**

"Annie," I roll down the window. "You ready?"

"In a minute," she calls as she pulls herself out of the pool. "Let me change out of my suit first."

I pull out my phone and call my mom. "Hey, Mom, it's me. I just want to make sure that it's still okay that I'm coming on Monday."

"Of course, Finny! By the way, you and Sylvia are on the same connecting flight. Please sit with your little sister!"

"Okay, Mom, I'll sit with her. Am I going to have to put up the decorations when I get there?" I ask her.

"No," she tells me. "Your cousins, Kayla and Tom, are already here. They set it up this year."

"Mom, my roommate's coming. I have to go. Bye."

"Bye, Finny." I hang up the phone as Annie opens the passenger door.

"Who was that?" she questions.

"My mom," I tell her.

"What were you talking about?" she inquires.

"Christmas," I tell her. "You know . . . I'm kind of worried."

"Why?" she asks. "Christmas is great."

"I'm going to tell them that I'm a model," I sigh. "They think I'm studying to become a doctor. They're going to be so fucking pissed off."

"Finnick, you're their son! They won't care what you chose to do with your life," she reassures me.

"Annie, I don't mean to sound rude . . . but you don't know my parents," I frown at her. "They are very traditional."

"FINNICK! WATCH THE ROAD!" Annie yells. I slam down on the breaks just before we hit the car in front of us.

I chuckle. "Sorry."

"You're going to get us killed," she laughs. "Be careful!"

I glance at her and feel something weird. She tosses a wet strand of hair behind her shoulder and giggles. She looks . . . perfect.

I shake my head. Maybe I inhaled too much salt water at my shoot.

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Peeta's POV**

"This one looks good," I muse, as I look at the Christmas tree.

Johanna looks at the price tag. "The price doesn't."

"Hey, guys!" Annie calls us over. "This one has a reasonable price and it looks pretty good."

"This could work," Johanna looks at it. "I like it."

"Where's the guy that cuts down the tree and helps us get it in Finnick's truck?" I ask.

We spot him a few trees away and he gets everything set up. Johanna hops into the driver's seat, Annie gets in the passenger seat, and I wind up stuck in the back.

"What time does Finnick's plane leave today?" I ask them.

"Seven," Annie tells me. "He'll have time to help with the decorations."

"I can't believe it's already the sixteenth. How long ago did the building burn down?" I ask.

"Sixteen days exactly," Johanna says. Her phone rings and she picks it up. "Hey, Remy." Silence on her side. "That's because I'm annoyed with you." More silence. "You know why!" I really hate one-sided conversations. "Okay, fine. I'll be there soon."

She turns and looks at us. "Do you mind if we take a little pit stop?"

I sigh. It's pointless to argue with Johanna. In a few minutes, we pull into the driveway of an average house. It's painted yellow, but has red shutters on the windows and a red door. It's one-story and kind of ranch-house-looking.

Johanna walks up to the door and lets herself in. I lean back and put my feet up. "How is that you like her?" I question Annie.

"She has a good heart," Annie says. "And she's kind of hilarious."

"I don't get it," I cross my arms. "How can you see past her . . . bitchiness?"

"You know you're kind of being an ass right now," Annie tells me. "She's obviously lost someone she cares about. Why do you think she doesn't dump her stupid boyfriend? She's terrified of not having anyone who cares about her!"

"You sound like a therapist," I frown at her. "How do you know all that stuff anyway?"

"It's Christmas time. Haven't you noticed how everyone else is talking about their families? She isn't. She hasn't said a word about any relatives. You call your brothers on Christmas day, Katniss video chats with her mom and sister, Gale doesn't visit his family for Christmas because he sees them at Thanksgiving, Finnick's going to Kansas City, and my parents and big brother are coming here. How have you not noticed that she doesn't talk about anything that happened to her before college?!"

Annie's right. I didn't notice any of that, but thinking back, I see that Johanna has said practically nothing about her past.

I cover my face with my hands. "I wonder what happened," I murmur to myself.

"Well, you sure as hell shouldn't ask her," Annie instructs. "She and Remy are coming to the car. We never said anything."

Johanna gets back in the driver's seat and Remy gets in next to me. "He's going to help us decorate the tree," Johanna starts the car. "By the way, Peeta, this is Remy. Remy, meet Peeta."

"Hi," I shake his hand. "Nice to meet you."

He smiles at me, but it doesn't reach his eyes. I immediately don't like this guy.

**Annie's POV**

"We got the lights and ornaments," Katniss calls as she opens the door. We just finished getting the tree to stand up correctly.

"Katniss, this is Remy," Johanna introduces. "Remy, this is the girl who stole my phone and threw a tantrum."

"Oh, my god," Katniss throws her hands up in the air. "Are you really still on that!? You switched rooms for a reason!"

"Why aren't you working anyway?" Johanna asks Katniss. "It's a Monday."

"School let out for Winter Break on Friday," she replies.

"You're a teacher?" Remy asks her.

"Yeah," Katniss shrugs. "Now, lets decorate the tree."

I grab a bunch of lights and start winding them around the tree. Finnick and Peeta get some more, and everyone else starts putting ornaments on the tree.

"Finnick, I think your lights plug into mine," I say.

He hands the end of it to me and I plug it in. "This isn't right. Maybe it's Peeta's." I unplug Finnick's lights from mine and try Peeta's. "Okay, this is better. Peeta, plug your lights into Finnick's, and Finnick, plug the other end into the outlet."

The lights come to life and I smile. "We did it," Finnick stands up and brushes dust off his pants.

"Great job, guys," Gale says to the three of us. "It looks really nice."

I grab a glass ornament from the box and hang it near the bottom of the tree.

"I love Christmas," Katniss randomly blurts out.

We continue decorating the tree for about an hour before all the ornaments are on the tree.

"I should go," Finnick looks at his watch.

"Where are you going?" Remy questions.

"Home," he replies simply.

"Before you go, I want to get a picture," I say. "I've done this ever since I was little. Everyone stand in front of the tree."

I take a picture of them and they quickly separate. Finnick grabs his suitcase and Johanna leaves to drive Remy home.

I really do like the tree.

**Gale's POV**

"Thanks for helping me wrap everyone's presents," Annie tells me, as she tosses another present under the tree.

"It's not like I have anything better to do," I shrug. "The bar is closed because of the health department. They think it will reopen a few days after the New Year."

"That's too bad," she says. "The pool's closed for renovations."

"Do you teach adults or kids?" I ask her.

"Both," she replies. "I like the kids more, though. Their sweeter."

I get up and walk into the kitchen. Katniss and Peeta are sitting at the table, arguing about something.

"Peeta, Batman would obviously beat Spiderman in a fight!"

"Not a chance," Peeta crosses his arms. "Spiderman would kick Batman's ass."

"What do you think, Gale?" Katniss asks.

"Batman would win in a second," I tell them.

Peeta raises his hands in defeat.

**Finnick's POV**

"She was totally flirting with you," Sylvia insists as we drive through downtown.

"No, she wasn't," I roll my eyes.

"Finn, you are so stupid! Everyone is always flirting with you! How do you not notice it? It makes me wonder how you'll ever become a doctor," she teases.

"I sure as hell know why you're becoming a lawyer. You can never shut up!" She punches my arm playfully.

"You are so mean to me," she jokes. "Are we almost there?"

"We can see the house! Do you have eyes?" I laugh at her and she blushes.

We pull into the driveway and climb out of the rental car. We grab our suitcases and walk up to the front door. "Mom! Dad!" I call. "We're here!"

"Everyone's in the living room," I recognize the voice as my Aunt Susan.

Sylvia and I walk into the living room and are tackled with hugs. There's Tom and Kayla, our nineteen-year-old cousins, Aunt Susan and Uncle Chris, Grams and Gramps, and my parents.

"Oh, my," Aunt Susan comes up and hugs us both. She grabs my shoulders. "Finnick, when did you get so handsome? Sylvia, I can't believe you're a fully grown woman now! I remember when the two of you were playing in my inflatable pool!"

I chuckle and hug the rest of my family. I bring my suitcase up to my room before going back downstairs.

"I want to catch up on how all of you are doing," Mom says, as she sits on a chair in the living room. "Tom, Kayla, how's Harvard?"

"It's amazing," Kayla gushes. "Everyone is so smart and helpful! It's really a great place."

"I completely agree with everything Kayla said," Tom smiles at all of us. Those two are geniuses.

"What about you Sylvia? Are you excited to become a lawyer?" Dad asks.

"I really think it's perfect for me. It's exhausting work, but it's what I love to do. I mean, what's better than keeping innocent people out of jail?"

"Finnick," Mom smiles brightly. "How's medical school?"

I tap my fingers against my bouncing knee. "About that, I'm not in medical school anymore." Jaws drop around the room. "I left because I didn't like it. It wasn't what I wanted to do."

My mother keeps a steady tone, "And what do you want to do?"

"Modeling." It barely comes out as a whisper but everyone hears it.

"Get out!" My dad screams at me. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"You're kicking me out of Christmas because of my career choice!?" I ask, incredulous.

Before Dad can say anything, Sylvia stands up and touches his arm. "Daddy, calm down. This is Finnick we're talking about. Your son. Finnick. The one who made sure nothing got broken when Kayla, Tom, and I were acting like idiot. The one who babysat us when you had to work late. The one who kept us from burning down the house. Prom King. High-school valedictorian. Finnick. Your son."

"He is no son of mine," Dad glares at me and I cover my mouth in shock.

"Uncle Jaymes, this is ridiculous," Kayla joins the conversation.

"Yeah," Tom backs her up. "This is the modern day. You can't just claim he's not your son anymore."

"I can and I will," Dad continues glaring at me. "Get out."

"Yeah, okay," my mouth still hangs open in shock. "I'll just get my stuff and then I'll be out of your hair."

"No. Get out, _now_," he growls.

"Dad, I know you're mad, but my apartment burned to the ground. That's pretty much all I have," I remind him.

I go upstairs to get it and hear yelling behind me. I hurry outside.

I feel tears well up in my eyes and let myself cry. I almost never do and it's good for you. I can still hear yells from inside the house.

In a few minutes, Tom, Kayla, and Sylvia come outside. "We called a cab to come pick you up," she sits down next to me and rubs my back while I cry. Tom and Kayla do the same.

"He's right," I mutter after I stop crying. "My life's a mess. I have five fucking roommates. Katniss and Johanna hate each other. Johanna's boyfriend is convinced that Gale and I are trying to rape Johanna. I wake up every night to Annie thrashing around and muttering! But I like it! I like the excitement in my life."

"Tell us more about your roommates," Tom pats my shoulder. "It will make you feel better."

"Well, Annie is a swim coach. I drive her to work everyday because I work at the pool a lot. She saw her brother burn to death in the fire, and is my _real_ roommate. She sleeps in the same room as me. Peeta's a baker. He's really nice, and cares a lot about being well-liked. Gale is a bartender. He's the quiet type. I don't know much about him, but I think he has a crush on Johanna. I don't think he realizes it, though. Johanna is a sculptor. She's a bitch but I like her alot. She's a really interesting person. Last is Katniss, and she's a music teacher. Her dad died when she was eleven, but she has a mom and a sister."

"I hope we can visit you sometime soon," Kayla smiles at me. "I want to meet your roommates."

The yellow taxi pulls to a stop in front of the house. "We'll call you on Christmas, okay?" Sylvia hands me my suitcase. "And sorry about Dad. He'll forget it in a year or so."

"Let's hope."

**I am very proud about this very long chapter. It was pretty sad but I think it was good. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Katniss's POV**

Finnick left two days ago. Now it's December 18th. Christmas is in less than a week.

I sit on the couch in the living room, reading a mystery novel. Lots of women my age read romance novels, but I've never liked those. I don't give a shit about any of that nonsense.

I hear the front door open. "Who's there?" I call. I have no idea, because everyone's already here.

"Me," I recognize Finnick's voice. Apparently, so do Annie and Johanna, because they come in from the kitchen.

Finnick walks into the living room with his suitcase. "What are you doing back?" Johanna asks.

"My dad kicked me out of Christmas," he shrugs.

"Oh, my god," I say. "That's awful! Why?"

"I told them that I was a model," he pushes his suitcase against the wall.

"Finnick, that's awful," Annie covers her mouth and pulls him into a hug. "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Finnick says. "Look, I spent two nights in two different airports. I'm really tired. I'm just going to get some sleep."

He picks up his suitcase and walks upstairs. A few minutes later, Peeta and Gale walk down. "What the sullen looks?" Peeta asks.

"Finnick's dad kicked him out of Christmas," I say.

"That's horrible," Gale frowns and a crease appears between his eyebrows.

"I don't think his father is a very forgiving person," Annie says. We're all upset for Finnick, but Annie seems more upset than the rest of us.

"Annie, why are you so upset?" I ask her. "Is it anything besides the thing with Finnick's family upsetting you?"

"No." It's an obvious lie and we all look at her. "Fine," she taps her foot. "He told me that he was going to tell his parents. I kind of told him that he should, and it would all be fine. I feel . . . responsible."

Johanna actually laughs. "Annie, that's ridiculous," she leans against the couch. "It's not your fault that his parents are old-school."

"I know that," she snaps. "I just . . . still feel like I'm in fault."

"Well, we all know it's stupid," Gale crosses his arms. "So, what's really bothering you?"

"Nothing," she scowls. Scowling is very un-Annie-like. I swear there's something going on with her.

**Annie's POV**

_**4 days later**_

"Push harder," I growl at Gale and Johanna.

"Why is your bed so fucking heavy?" Johanna hisses.

"If I knew, I would tell you," I snap.

"You three getting anywhere?" Finnick asks from the other bed.

"No," Gale says. "You?"

"Not much," Peeta replies.

I sigh and lean against the wall. "This isn't working. Do you think the bed is big enough for both of my parents to sleep on?"

Katniss looks at it and shrugs, "It will be tight, but yes."

"I don't think my brother will want to share a room with my parents, so he can sleep downstairs with Finnick and me."

We hear the doorbell ring and everyone looks at me. "I'll get it," I mutter.

I open the door and smile at the three people standing in front of me. "Mom! Dad! Nathan!" I hug each of them before ushering them inside.

I move their luggage to the foot of the stairs and call to Johanna, Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and Finnick. They come in as a group.

"Mom, Dad, Nathan, these are my roommates- Finnick, Peeta, Jo, Katniss, and Gale." I gesture to each of them as I say their name.

"I like your hair," Nathan says to Johanna.

"I don't like yours," she scowls at him, and gestures to his dreadlocks. "You can't pull off that look."

"I'm not a fan of your attitude," he glares at her.

"I'm not a fan of you in general," she glares right back.

"Bitch," he says and my mother immediately scolds him.

"Nathan, I raised you better than that! That's rude!"

"Yeah, whatever," he frowns and Johanna just laughs and flips him off.

"Jo," I hit her in the arm and she smiles at me.

"Sorry, Annie."

"How do you do that so naturally?" my dad asks her. "If you were Catholic-"

She laughs. "I'm an atheist. If I walked into a church, I'd probably burst into flames. By the way, I've flipped people off since I was ten."

"Dad, Peeta and I are the only ones in this house who're Christian. Everyone else is either agnostic or atheist," I inform him.

"Oh. I didn't mean any offense. I'm sorry if I offended anyone," my dad says.

"We don't get offended easily," Finnick leans against the wall.

"I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves," my mom changes the subject. "I'm Beatrice, and this is my husband, Ron. We're so thankful that you're letting us stay with you."

"Gladly," Peeta sits on the couch. "You're always welcome here."

"Thank you," Mom says with a smile. "Now, is there a place where we can put our bags?"

"Yeah, you can sleep in our room," I gesture to Finnick and myself. "We'll bring your bags up there. Nathan, you'll have to sleep on the couch."

I grab Mom's suitcase and Finnick picks up Dad's. We carry them upstairs and place them on the bed we aren't using.

"Your parents seem nice," Finnick tells me. "I don't like your brother though."

"Most people don't," I say. "I don't take it personal."

We go back downstairs and I say, "Do you guys want to go to dinner? I'm getting hungry."

Everyone nods and we head out the door.

**Johanna's POV**

The hostess brings us to our table and I slide in the booth next to Gale. To my dismay, Nathan sits next to me.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Our waitress asks us.

"Water," I say.

I look down at my phone and check my messages. Nothing important.

I feel the presence of something on my knee and look at it. I see Nathan's hand, but Gale quickly swats it away. I glare at both of them. Nathan with a look that reads: _Touch me again and I swear I'll kill you_- and Gale with a look that says: _What the hell? I can take care of myself!_ He just shakes his head at me.

Nathan's hand appears again and I scowl. I'm starting to notice how often I scowl. Nathan's hand moves a few inches upward and I gasp.

"Jo? What's wrong?" Annie studies me carefully.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that they don't have any vegetarian meals." I put on a smile but she sees right through it. Her eyes slide over to Nathan.

"Nathan! I need to talk to you," she gets up and drags Nathan to the hallway, angrily.

"What was that about?" Katniss asks.

"Nothing," Gale lies for me. He grabs my arm and pulls me to the hallway that Annie and Nathan aren't in.

"What the hell was that?" he growls.

"What did it look like?" I growl right back.

"It looked like sexual harassment," he crosses his arms.

"What if it was? Why do you care!?"

"I don't." His body language gives him away.

"You're _lying_," I cross my arms over my chest.

"Fine. I care because it's not okay. You can't let that happen to you," he says.

"I don't believe that's your reason," I frown at him.

"Fine. This is my reason!" He cups my face in his hands and kisses me.

**Peeta's POV**

"So . . ." Finnick starts. "You're from New Orleans, right?"

"Yes," Ron says. "We live right next to the French Quarter."

"Cool . . ." Finnick says awkwardly. We sit there in silence.

"I'm going to go see what everyone is doing," I get up and walk to the hallway Annie and Nathan went to. I see the two of them arguing.

"This is just like in high school," Annie hisses. "You always go after my friends and all you want is . . . _that_! It ruins my friendships!"

"Friend!? Annie, you've known her for two weeks-" she cuts him off.

"You've known her for two hours," Annie counters.

"It takes a lot shorter of a time to figure out someone's a sexy slut than it does to figure out if they can be a friend," he growls. "Annie, you've always thought the best about people! It's the worst thing about you!"

"Well, you've always thought the worst of people," Annie argues. "You hate each other! I saw you earlier! _Everyone_ saw you! And she's not a slut! She's in a serious relationship!"

"With who?"

"You haven't met him."

"Sorry to interrupt," I say nervously, "But I kind of left Finnick and Katniss at the most awkward table ever, and I'm starting to feel bad about it." I smile at the pair of them. "So, can we go get Gale and Johanna, and go back to the table?"

"Yeah, sure," Annie crosses her arms and follows me.

We turn down the other hallway and immediately see Johanna and Gale sticking their tongues down each other's throats.

Nathan nudges Annie with his elbow. "What were you saying about that relationship?"

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Gale's POV**

Everyone sits in the living room after dinner. It was one of the worst and one of the best dinners I've ever had. I don't know where I stand with Johanna, and it's making me antsy.

"Okay, this whole dinner situation is pissing me off," Finnick crosses his arms. "I will figure it out if it kills me. So, what happened?"

"Nothing," Johanna, Annie, Nathan, and I say in unison.

"When multiple people say something in unison it makes it less believable," Katniss points out.

"So, let's start with what we know," Finnick suggests. "Something happened between Nathan and Jo. Annie figured it out and got mad at Nathan. Gale got mad at Jo. I don't know how much Peeta knows, but he was eavesdropping on Annie and Nathan's conversation, and then he was there when they went to get Gale and Jo."

"It really was nothing," Johanna insists.

"It wasn't nothing," Annie mutters under her breath. "It was high school repeating itself."

"Oh, a new development," Katniss claps her hands. "Beatrice, Ron, what happened between Annie and Nathan when they were in high school."

"Don't worry about it," Nathan says. "It doesn't matter."

"If it didn't matter, you would've told us," Katniss crosses her arms.

"Katniss, Finnick, will you come upstairs and help me with something?" Annie asks politely and they oblige.

They hurry up the stairs and Johanna, Peeta, Nathan and I exchange looks. "She's spilling the whole story, isn't she?"

**Katniss's POV **

"So, please don't tell my parents because they would be . . . brokenhearted, if they knew Nathan did things like that," Annie finishes.

"That's . . . disturbing," Katniss says.

"Annie, I swear if you say one word, you will regret it," we hear Johanna's voice in the hallway. She opens the door and frowns at us.

I walk past her and pat her shoulder. "What was that? Don't touch me," she steps away and turns toward Annie. "You told them! You told them after we told you not to."

"I didn't tell them _all _of it! Just the part about you and Nathan," Annie defends.

"Well, I didn't care about the other part!"

"What's the other part?" Finnick asks.

"Gale kissed me," Johanna hardly glances at him. "Annie, you can't do that! If someone tells you not to say something you don't! It's how adults act!"

"You shouldn't argue over something so stupid," I cross my arms.

"Just shut up," Johanna snaps. "No one asked for your opinion." She sighs. "I'm going back downstairs."

Annie shrugs. "She's mad but not too mad. She'll be over it by morning."

We walk back down the stairs and Nathan leans against the wall. "I'm tired. Can we all get some sleep?"

**Finnick's POV**

"Jason, run!" Annie thrashes on the coach. "Run!"

I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sit up in the recliner I'm sleeping in. I see Nathan doing the same in his recliner.

"Shit," I mutter. "It's not usually this bad."

"Usually?" Nathan asks. "How often does this happen?"

"Once or twice a night," I tell him.

"Wow, my sister's insane."

"Give her a break," I nap. "She saw your little brother burned alive."

I get out of the chair and walk over to her. I gently shake her shoulders. "Annie, wake up. It's just a nightmare."

She doesn't wake up. She continues to thrash around, and she manages to hit me in the jaw. I move so I'm sitting on top of her stomach and shake her shoulders harder. "Annie! Wake up!"

She slowly opens her eyes and wipes off her wet face. She doesn't stop crying, though.

"Finnick, I'm so sorry," she sobs. "I do this every night! I'm so sorry!"

"Shh," I soothe as I stroke her hair. I let her cry into my shoulder. "It's okay. Shh."

She sniffs and sits up. She wipes her eyes. "Sorry," she whispers.

"It's fine. Go back to sleep," I instruct.

She lays back down on the couch and, in a few minutes, her breaths become even.

"You must really care about her," Nathan says. "You acted like she was your wife or daughter, instead of a woman you've known for less than a month."

I shrug. "She's unstable right now. It's the right thing to do."

"You sure that's your motive?" he questions.

"You're trying to lecture me? After you harassed Jo?" I raise my eyebrow at him.

He sighs and leans back in his recliner. "That was not my best moment."

"It was pathetic," I say. "Annie said you used to do it all the time."

"Some habits die hard," he starts, "and others never die."

"You call harassing pretty women a habit?"

He shrugs and says, "Yeah."

"You really are an ass," I say to him.

Annie rolls over. "He's not an ass. He's just an idiot."

"Sorry, Annie," Nathan says. "Did we wake you?"

"Yes. It was just a second ago though." She wraps her blanket around herself. "By the way, it's freezing down here."

I shiver and nod. "Definitely," I say. "It's colder down here than it is outside."

Nathan picks up his blanket and pillow and stands up. "That's it. I'm sleeping on the porch."

"That's a horrible idea," Annie tells him. "Don't do that."

"I'll be fine," he says. "Don't worry about it. I'm your big brother. It's my job to worry about you, not your job to worry about me."

"Annie's right," I say. "You can't sleep alone on the back porch."

"I said don't worry about it," Nathan walks out.

"We should-" Annie starts.

"Yeah, we have to," I say.

**Annie's POV**

"You were right," Nathan says to us when he wakes up. "This was a bad idea."

"No shit," I mutter as I rub my neck. "It should've been obvious, dumbass."

"We should go inside," Finnick grabs his pillow and blanket.

I grab my stuff and walk into the house behind Finnick. Peeta and my mom are in the kitchen, cooking.

"Annie, where were you? We couldn't find you anywhere," Mom runs over to me.

"Nathan had an idiotic idea. That's all it was," I reassure her.

We put our stuff on the couch and go back into the kitchen. "I have an awful crick in my neck," Finnick complains.

"Me too," I frown. "I think I also messed up my shoulder."

"You probably did," he rolls his shoulders and winces.

"So, you slept on the back porch?" Peeta asks as he hands us each a bagel.

I nod glumly and Peeta laughs. "Who the hell thought that would be a good idea?"

"My idiot brother," I say.

"Don't talk bad about your older brother," Mom orders.

I almost laugh. "Whatever you say mother."

**A few days ago in school the most hilarious thing happened. We were writing vocab. for this stupid thing that we do a few times a year and the definition for the word prissy was: extremely prim and finicky. I nearly died. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Annie's POV**

"I don't get this," Johanna says after she stabs herself with a knitting needle for the fourth time. "Why did I even agree to try it?"

"Knitting isn't for everyone," my mother says.

"I thought you would be good at it," I tell Johanna. "You know, because you're a sculptor."

"I'm more of a carver than a sculptor, and this is nothing like carving," Johanna sucks on her injured finger.

"So, Annie, don't tell your father I asked this," my mother starts. "But how's the sex?"

I drop my knitting needles and Johanna freezes mid-suck. "What?" I ask.

"Your brother and I have seen the way you and your roommate look at each other," Mom says. "Since you're clearly not in an actual relationship, and he's a model, we went with the most likely option."

Johanna starts laughing and my mouth falls open. "Mom, we're not sleeping together!"

"Who's not sleeping together?" Finnick comes in the kitchen.

"No one," I say.

Johanna continues laughing and says, "Oh my god, I wish you were my mother!"

"I'm sure you have a fine mother as it is," Mom says to Johanna.

"Hardly," Johanna laughs but I actually listen to what she said.

Apparently, Finnick notices it too because he asks, "What's that suppose to mean?"

Johanna shrugs. "My mom doesn't talk to me anymore."

"Why not?" I ask her.

"Because I didn't join the army," she says. "I have a good reason. When I was born, I had three older brothers. All of them joined a different part of the army. My oldest brother joined the air force, my second oldest brother joined the navy, and my other brother joined the marines. My two oldest brothers are dead. I don't want to wind up in a hole in the ground."

"That's kind of awful," I say.

"Yeah," she says. "But I've let it go. I miss my brother, though. He gets to come home in a few months, and I think I'm going to go see him.

"You definitely should," Finnick says.

"Okay." She stabs herself again with the knitting needles and swears. "I can't do this. I quit."

**Johanna's POV**

I stare at Remy's door, trying to decide whether or not to turn back. I sigh and knock.

He opens it and smiles at me. "What's up, Jo?" He kisses me and I pull away quickly.

"We need to talk," I say. "I think we need to break up."

"Why?" he asks.

"We both know that it's not working out," I say. "I like you, and you're great in bed, but . . . we shouldn't continue it."

"That's not all there is," Remy crosses his arms. "There's someone else."

I nod slowly. "I'm sorry, Remy. I really didn't mean for it to happen . . . but it did."

"I knew it. I told you it would, and you ignored me."

"Look, I'm sorry. I should go. I'll see you after New Year's, okay?" I turn and walk back to my car.

I dial Gale's number on my phone. "Hello," he answers.

"Gale, what are we?" I ask. I've never been known for subtlety.

"I don't know," he says. "What do you want us to be? And what about Remy?"

"Remy isn't an issue," I reply. "I just broke up with him. I couldn't stay with him in good conscience."

"Oh, well, I like you Jo. I like you a lot, but I don't want things to be weird between us," he says.

"Things are going to be weird between us no matter what," I say. "Unless . . ."

"Unless what?" he asks.

"Unless we become a couple," I say. "Look, I don't care what you say, I just want you to hear-"

"Okay," he interrupts. "I'm cool with that."

"Oh . . . okay," I say stupidly.

"Great, see you soon," he hangs up and I stare at my phone.

And then a hear a crash.

**Gale's POV**

"Who's this?" I say into my phone.

"It's me," I recognize Johanna's voice. "I need you to bring my wallet to the police station."

"Why are you at the police station?" I ask her.

"Well, I got in a car wreck-" she starts, but I interrupt her.

"What? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she snaps. "As I was saying, I got in a wreck, but I didn't have my license, because I left it in my wallet, which is on my nightstand. Then, I started arguing with the cop, and so now I'm in a holding cell at the police station. So, will you bring me my wallet?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in about ten minutes," I tell her before hanging up.

I run upstairs and grab Johanna's wallet off her nightstand. I go back down the steps and Annie asks, "Where are you going?"

"To bail Johanna out of jail," I reply.

"Really?" she asks. "I'm coming with."

"Me too," Finnick says and I just shrug.

We all pile into my car and hurry to the police station. When we're about a block away, a cop pulls us over.

"You were speeding," he tells me.

I sigh. "Look, we're going to the police station right now, so I can bail my girlfriend out of jail. Can you please just let us go?"

"No," the cop says, and I give him my license and registration. He writes me out a ticket, and I start driving again.

"When did Johanna become your girlfriend?" Annie questions.

"This morning," I reply.

"I called it," Finnick smiles triumphantly. "I told _everyone_ that you were completely into her."

"He did," Annie confirms. "In fact, he said it multiple times."

"Just get out of the car," I say as we pull into the police station parking lot.

We walk into the building and instantly see Johanna. She's in a cell, standing as far away as possible from a hairy guy sleeping on the bench. I toss her the wallet and she shows it to the cop. He lets her out and gives her a bunch of paperwork to fill out.

She sits in one of the chairs and we all sit around her. "So, how'd you wind up here?" Finnick asks.

"Well, I got in a car accident, and the cop was driving me insane. I kept telling him that I left my license in my bedroom, but he refused to believe me. So he was like, 'Did you steal this car?' and I was like, 'No, I didn't fucking steal this car!' He brought me here when I told him to shut the fuck up and go to hell."

"You look like you belong here," Finnick teases.

"Just shut up," she growls. "If you're going to be useless, help me with this."

She hands him half the paperwork. I put my arm around her shoulders and hand her a pen. "Knock yourself out."

**Peeta's POV**

"She told a cop to go to hell?" I laugh into my phone. "She might be the only person who isn't mentally unstable who'd do that."

"I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure she's unstable," Finnick says, and I hear him get shoved- most likely by Johanna.

"Peeta, get back to work," Roberto yells at me.

"I've got to go," I tell Finnick. "Bye."

I walk back into the kitchen and Kelly asks, "What was that about?"

"My roommate told a cop to go to hell, and then, she had to be bailed out of jail," I say.

Kelly and Jared laugh. "You have an interesting life," Jared elbows me.

"Definitely," I say.

"It's better than our crappy lives," Kelly gestures to Jared and herself.

"Oh, please," I laugh. "Jared's wife is pregnant with their second child, and you just got a ton of money from your great uncle. You both have fine lives."

"Well, they aren't fun."

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Katniss's POV**

"Merry Christmas," I say to Peeta, as I walk down the steps Christmas morning. Peeta- as usual- is in the kitchen, making breakfast.

"Christmas cookie?" He offers me a cookie shaped like a Christmas tree, with green icing and M&Ms as lights.

"Don't mind if I do," I take a bite out of it. "Should I wake up Annie, Finnick, and Nathan?"

"Go ahead," he replies.

I walk into the living room and clap my hands. Annie and Nathan jerk awake, and Finnick groggily opens his eyes. "Merry Christmas," I say to them.

I grab my laptop and open it up. I click on the skype icon and see that Prim is online. I press the video chat button, and in a minute, her face pops up. Mom appears a moment later and I smile at them.

"Merry Christmas," Prim says.

"Yeah, are you guys having fun without me?" I ask.

"Yes," Mom says. "By the way, I sent you some of your old stuff, yesterday. Along with your Christmas present."

"Thanks, Mom," I smile at her.

"No problem, sweetie," she says.

"Katniss, why are you talking to yourself?" Finnick calls from the kitchen.

"I'm not! I'm video chatting with someone," I yell back.

"Who?" Peeta asks.

"My family," I say.

"Lucky you. Half of my family isn't talking to me," Finnick says. His phone rings. "Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. Hey, Sylvia."

"Who was that?" Prim asks.

"My roommate," I say.

Prim laughs. "Which one?"

"Finnick," I answer.

"He's the overly attractive one."

"Oh, that's cool," she says.

"Now, tell me about Tulane."

"It's great! I am so freaking popular! I've been to a ton of parties, and the guys are so hot! It's so exciting! Let me tell you about my boyfriend. He's a sophomore . . ."

**Finnick POV**

"So, how's Christmas?" I ask Sylvia, Tom, and Kayla.

"Not good," Kayla says. "It doesn't feel the same without you. Plus, the family is split into two groups. Aunt Susan, Tom, Sylvia, and I think that your dad was being stupid, and they should talk to you, and everyone else is siding with your dad."

"That's ridiculous," I laugh. "You guys should be enjoying Christmas! By the way, I didn't get anyone anything because I spent most of my money buying back all my stuff."

"I can't believe Dad would send you away after your apartment burned down," Sylvia says. "That's just cruel."

"It's not like I'm a kicked puppy," I say. "I can take care of myself."

"We know that, but we did give Uncle Chris a lot of help when he lost all his money gambling," Sylvia says. "I think of it like that."

"Well don't," I say. "I'm your big brother; I take care of you. It's not the other way around."

"Finnick, these walls are paper-thin," Johanna walks in my room, arms crossed. "Do you really have to talk on your phone upstairs? Would it kill you to let Gale and I sleep?"

"Merry Christmas to you too," I say sarcastically.

"What was that?" Tom asks.

"Just my roommate," I reply.

"Can we talk to them?" Sylvia asks.

"No," I say.

"You're such a jerk," Kayla complains. "It's not like we're going to embarrass you."

"That's what you said at my graduation," I remind them. "And you ended up knocking over the food court."

"It was an accident!"

"Anyway," Sylvia stops our argument, "Aunt Susan's pregnant again."

"There's kind of a large age distance between children," Tom says.

"Yeah, we'll be twenty when he/she is born," Kayla adds.

"Aunt Susan was probably just waiting until you moved out of the house," I tell them. "Because both of you were a pain in the ass."

"We weren't that bad," Tom says.

"_Yes_, you were," Sylvia says. "The pair of you together was terrifying."

"I'm proud to be terrifying," Kayla says. "Not many can say that their cousins were scared of them."

"Everyone in our family was afraid of you," Sylvia says. "You were little devils."

"We weren't any worse than your junior-year boyfriend," Tom says.

"Oh my god," Sylvia laughs. "Don't remind me. He got arrested for dealing drugs about a month ago."

"You sure knew how to pick 'em," I say sarcastically.

"Just, shut up. He was really cute," Sylvia defends.

"No, he wasn't," Kayla says. "He had a huge nose! It took up half his face."

"When did this turn into an attack against my choice in boyfriends?" Sylvia asks.

"It didn't. We're just pointing out the facts," I say.

"Yeah, whatever," Sylvia snaps. "Anyway, we should go back downstairs. It's Christmas morning after all."

"Tell everyone I say merry christmas," I say.

"Of course. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up the phone, and walk back downstairs and into the living room.

I collapse on the couch and put my feet up on the table. Annie sits on my right, and Johanna sits to my left.

I rub the sleep out of my eyes, and Annie hands her parents a present.

I never thought I'd be spending Christmas with a group of people I met a month ago.

**Johanna's POV**

"Well, that was fun," I say. "I'm going back to bed."

I stand up just as I hear a knock at the door. I walk over and swing it open. I look down and see a man in a wheelchair.

"Oh god, Jack," I say to the man. "Why the hell are you in a wheelchair?"

"Injury. I'm paralyzed from the waist down," he replies.

"Oh, no," I say. "Jack, that's horrible. What are you doing here?"

"Mom says that she hasn't talked to you in a few years, so I called some of your old friends until I found out where you lived. Merry Christmas, Johanna."

"Yeah," I say. "Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," he says. "I got you something, by the way."

He hands me a little box, and I step aside so he can get through. I open it and find a keychain. "You got me a keychain from Iraq?"

He laughs. "Yeah. It's not the best present I've ever bought."

He wheels his chair into the living room and I say, "Um, this is my brother, Jack."

"Hey," Finnick says. "I'm Finnick."

"Nice to meet you," Jack says.

Gale sits on the arm of a chair, and I sit next to him. "This is Gale."

Everyone else introduces themselves to Jack, and Jack wheels over to the couch.

"I'm actually going back to bed now," I say. "So, bye."

**Peeta's POV**

"You were in the marines, right?" Finnick asks Jack.

"Yeah, until I got injured," he replies. "Now, I'm a twenty-eight and living with my mother."

"I don't want to sound rude, but that's understandable," Nathan says.

"Oh, I know," Jack says. "I need some help until I get use to the chair."

"What about your dad?" Annie asks. "Does he help at all?"

"My dad died when I was fourteen and Johanna was ten," he replies. "My family has had a lot of losses. When Johanna was born, there was six of us. Now, there's two and a half."

"Yeah, loss is hard. My little brother died less than a month ago," Annie says.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Jack says to her.

"It wasn't your fault," Ron says.

"It was mine," Annie mutters.

"Annie, that's not true," I say.

"Yeah, Peeta, it is. I should've made him go first! He was my little brother! It was my responsibility to fucking take care of him!"

She gets up and storms up the stairs. Finnick follows her.

"She didn't take it well," Nathan says.

"Well, of course she didn't," Gale snapped. "She saw him burned alive!"

"I know that," Nathan growls. "He was my brother too, and she's my sister! He's dead and she has nightmares _every_ night! You think it doesn't eat me alive?! You've had it out for me since I got here!"

"Well, I have good reason," he growls back. "After you fucking-"

"Gale, don't," Johanna warns.

The room goes silent after that. It's kind of a mood killer.

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Annie's POV**

Nathan walks into the living room, rubbing a black eye. "Oh god, Nathan what happened?"

"A marine happened," Nathan scowls.

"Why'd he hit you?" Johanna asks.

"I don't know, but I have a theory," his eyes slide over to Gale.

"Gale, you didn't," Johanna turns toward him.

"I didn't tell him anything," Gale raises his hands in the air.

"Well, how'd he hit you?," Johanna asks. "He's always been tough, but he _is_ in a wheelchair. Are you really that pathetic?"

"Yes, I really am," he scowls.

"Annie, can I talk to you for a minute?" My mom gestures to the kitchen and I walk in. "Annie, you've been through a traumatic experience. Your father and I think it would be smart for you to see a grief counselor."

"Mom, I'm not going to talk to a shrink," I say. "I can take care of myself."

"Annie, you have nightmares."

"Yeah, I do," I say. "What's it matter?"

"Dear, you shouldn't have to relive that every night," Mom insists. "You're unstable."

"Whenever I have nightmares Finnick wakes me up," I say. "I'm fine."

"I didn't know that you were causing your roommate to lose sleep," she says. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for him."

I bite my lip. "Fine. I'll try it. For Finnick."

"You really like him."

"Yeah, he's my friend," I say.

"That's not what I meant."

"Mom, I've explained this to you already. He's a good friend. Nothing more."

"Alright. I believe you."

I sigh. "No, you don't."

**Gale's POV**

"Oh my god, that's great," I say into my phone. "See you then."

I pump my fist into the air. "Anyone want to go to a New Year's Eve party? My bar reopened and I get to work New Year's Eve!"

"I don't know," Finnick says. "Everyone's going to be drinking, and sobriety tests will be all over the place . . ."

"I'm not allowed to drink while I'm working," I say to him. "I'll be designated driver."

"You should've started with that," Finnick laughs. "I'll go."

"Me too," Johanna says.

Everyone else agrees, and I smile. Working on New Year's Eve is a big deal.

Johanna puts her head on my shoulder. "Why are you smiling so much?"

"New Year's is a big deal where I work. If it goes well, I could get promoted to bar manager," I say.

"That's nice," Johanna says, before taking a deep breath. "I should probably go to work, though."

"Why? It's the day after Christmas," I say.

"I know. I work on the 26th. I have to go."

**Johanna's POV**

"Merry Christmas, guys," I say as I walk through the door.

"Merry Christmas, Jo," Dustin smiles at me. Remy and Ian don't say anything.

"Is there a reason they aren't talking to me?" I whisper to Dustin.

"Remy may have told us the details behind why you broke up," Dustin whispers back. "I think he was exaggerating. Ian doesn't."

"I got you all presents," I say. "Dustin, I got you tickets to that concert you wanted to go to. They were extremely cheap, so the band probably sucks. Ian, I got you a T-shirt signed by all the Beatles. And um . . . Remy, I got your present before . . ."

"Before you cheated on me," Remy crosses his arms.

"Remy, it was one time," I sigh.

"One time you slept with your roommate?"

"I didn't sleep with him," I say. "It was one kiss."

"What is it now?" he questions.

I purse my lips. "Exactly," he says. "That's just like you. Move from one boyfriend to the other. You're so needy."

"I'm not needy," I defend. "What did you expect me to do, anyway? Sit at home and watch romantic comedies?"

"No, but it would've been nice for you to care a little bit," Remy scowls.

"Well, sorry, I move on quickly. Anyway, your present was kind of romantic, so do you still want it?"

"I'm good," he says. "I got you some stuff from Victoria's Secret, but I left it in my car."

"Keep it," I say. I turn my attention back to Dustin and Ian. "I got you both amazing gifts. So, Ian, please don't listen to whatever bullshit Remy has told you."

"Jo, you did cheat on him," Ian says. "My ex-wife did that to me. I kind of have to agree with him."

"Well, that's a disappointment."

**Finnick's POV**

A high-pitched laugh comes from the living room. "Finnick, get over hear," Annie calls.

"What?" I ask. "Is someone hurt?"

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous," Katniss says. "We found something online that you might want to see."

"What is it?" I question.

They turn around, blocking the computer screen. "We were bored so we were searching Google, and we found a link to the most sold calendars of 2012," Annie explains.

"So?" I ask.

"You're in one of them," Katniss laughs.

I look over their heads and at the screen. They're right. I'm the August picture. "Oh god, close that window. That was an awful shoot."

"No, it wasn't," Annie says. "You look good."

"No, I look constipated," I click out of the website and sit on the couch. "How could I possibly look good?"

"You have an eight-pack," Annie chuckles, and sits next to me.

"I've had an eight-pack for as long as I can remember," I say to her.

She pokes my stomach. "It's like a freaking rock."

"I know." She continues poking me. "Stop that. It tickles."

She laughs. "This tickles?"

"Yes. Now stop."

She pokes me again. "No."

"I said stop!"

She pokes me. "No."

"Fine. If that's how you want to do this . . ." I reach in and tickle her ribs.

She screeches. "FINNICK! STOP!"

"No." I tickle her again, and she hops away. I jump after her and she dodges me again. I attack her ribs and pull her onto the couch with me. She giggles and pokes me in the stomach.

Katniss shifts her eyes awkwardly. "What?" I ask her.

She shakes her head. "You're both idiots." She walks into the kitchen and I glance at Annie.

Annie shrugs. "Maybe she's having a bad day."

**Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Johanna's POV**

"Yes, Rory, you can bring your girlfriend tonight," Gale says into his phone. "Yes, I do think it's weird that you're both from L.A. but you go to Tulane. . . Yes, I'm very excited. Rory, this conversation is over, bye."

"Who was that?" I sit down next to him.

"My brother," he laughs. "He's coming to the bar tonight, and he's bringing his girlfriend. He's excited because he turned twenty-one a month ago."

"He's in for the time of his life," I kiss him. "By the way, what should I wear tonight?"

"The bar isn't very classy, so wear something simple and sexy," he says.

"I always dress simple and sexy," I grin. "So, this should be easy."

He pulls me in for a kiss before saying, "I should go get ready."

"Yeah, and then I can go to a bar, and drink a lot of vodka."

**Annie's POV**

"Black or white?" I hold the two dresses in front of Finnick and he studies them carefully.

"Black," he replies. He tugs off his shirt and walks to his closet. I find myself blushing stupidly.

"My parents will be home soon, so you should hurry up," I say. "I'm gonna go change in the bathroom."

He smiles at me. "When did you get so shy?"

"I've always been shy," I shrug. "You've just never noticed it."

I walk across the hall to the bathroom I share with Finnick, and lock the door. I tug on the dress, apply some makeup, and pull my hair into a ponytail. I smile at my reflection in the mirror; I look good.

I walk back into my room, and see Finnick buttoning-up a white shirt. He grins at me. "You look nice," he says.

"You too," I smile, and sit on my bed. Finnick sits next to me.

"You should get me something for my birthday?" he asks me.

"When's your birthday?"

"January 12th," he says.

"Really?" I ask. "Mine's July 12th."

"Exactly six months after mine," he smiles.

"You're turning twenty-six, right?" I ask and he nods.

My parents walk in the room, and Finnick and I get up. My mother smiles at me. "Have fun, Annie."

"Thanks, Mom. I will," I say, before walking out of the room. Finnick is on my heels. Johanna comes out of her room, wearing a red halter top with little white polka dots, white, jean shorts, and a pair of spunky red heels.

"Everyone's already downstairs," she tells us.

We walk down the stairs and into the living room. Katniss, Peeta, and Gale are already there. Gale picks up his keys, and we all pile into his car.

Gale's in the driver's seat, Johanna's in the passenger seat, and everyone else squeezes in the back. Gale starts the car, and pulls out of the driveway.

"Why did Nathan leave early?" Katniss asks me.

"His work," I reply. "He starts again tomorrow."

"I don't want to go back to work," Finnick frowns. "But I have to start again on the third."

"Same," Katniss sighs.

"Me too," I say.

Peeta laughs. "I don't work again until January 10th."

"Lucky bastard," Johanna mutters. "My life at work is a hellhole."

"Why?" Gale asks. "I thought you loved your job."

"Remy fucked everything up," she says.

"How?" I ask her.

"He's filling Ian's head with bullshit," she laughs.

"He practically attacked Gale and I when we were there," Finnick says. "That was fun."

"He had some jealousy problems," Johanna says. "Not to mention trust issues."

"No kidding."

**Katniss's POV**

By eleven o'clock, most people are wasted. I spot Gale at the bar, talking to a man who looks like a younger version of him.

I walk over and smile at him. "Hey, Katniss," he says. "This is my brother, Rory. Rory, this is my roommate, Katniss."

"Nice to meet you," he shakes my hand.

"Yeah," I say.

"So, Rory, where's your notorious girlfriend?" Gale asks.

Rory laughs. "In the bathroom."

"Aren't you worried she's hooking up with another guy?" Gale asks.

Rory shakes his head. "Nah. She's not like that."

"You can never be too sure," Johanna sneaks up behind us. She gives Rory her hand to shake. "I'm Johanna- Gale's girlfriend."

"I'm Rory- Gale's brother," Rory shakes her hand.

A familiar blond girl approaches us. She doesn't seem to notice me, probably because I'm standing behind Johanna. She kisses Rory.

"This is my girlfriend, Prim," Rory says. Her eyes widen as she sees me.

"What are you doing here, Prim?" I ask.

"Celebrating the new year," she replies. "Same as you, Katniss."

"You know each other?" Gale asks.

"Prim's my little sister," I say.

Rory laughs. "It's a small world."

"Yeah," Prim smiles. "It's great to see you, Kat."

She takes Rory's hand and leads him away from us.

"Wow, it's weird to see your little sister at a bar," I rub my head.

"She looks nothing like you," Johanna says. "You sure she's even your sister?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I snap.

Peeta, Finnick, and Annie come over to us. "Why does Katniss look like she's seen a ghost?" Annie asks.

"She just found out that her sister is dating my brother," Gale laughs, as he hands someone a beer.

"So what?" Finnick asks. "Why does it matter?"

I shrug. "It's weird.

"Not really," Johanna mutters.

"I mean seeing my little sister at a bar," I clarify. "I thought I knew everything about her."

"You never really know anyone," Johanna says as she gulps down the last of her drink.

That brings me up short, and I remain silent. Before I know it, there's a countdown starting.

"10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3! 2! 1! Happy New Year!"

Johanna leans over the counter and kisses Gale, and Finnick kisses Annie, then me, then Johanna, and finally Peeta. Gale sprays him with an alcohol before he can kiss anyone else. Finnick wrestles the alcohol hose from Gale and sprays him with it.

"What just happened?" Peeta asks, clearly dazed.

"I don't actually know," Annie says.

"It's New Year's," Finnick raises his hands. "Everyone does it!"

"No, Finnick, just you," Johanna says.

"Well, I'm going to keep doing it," Finnick laughs.

**Peeta's POV**

We pile into Gale's car at around 2 a.m. Katniss falls asleep on my shoulder, I feel giddy, and Annie and Finnick can't stop laughing. Gale and Johanna keep looking at us like we're insane.

"You people do not take alcohol well," Johanna says.

"It's pathetic," Gale glances back at us before cursing loudly. "Dammit! There's a sobriety checkpoint up ahead!"

"Gale, you reek of alcohol," Johanna says.

"That's because Finnick sprayed me with it!"

Gale pulls over and frowns at the cop. "I know what this looks like, but I'm sober. I'm a bartender, that's why I smell like vodka. I swear I'm not drunk!"

Johanna's face lights up, and she turns to the cop. "Oh my god. Do you remember me? I'm the girl you brought to the police station a couple weeks ago! I told you shut the fuck up and go to hell! Remember me? I got in the car wreck!"

"Please, step out of the vehicle," the cop says to Gale and he sighs. He opens his door and steps out. We all watch him intently.

"Recite the alphabet backwards."

"Oh, shit. Um . . . Z, Y, X, W . . . C, B, A. Did I get them all?"

The officer nods. "Walk on this line." Gale does shakily.

"You're good to go," the cop says to him. "Drive safely."

"Johanna," Finnick laughs. "You reminding the cop that you met him before probably wasn't a great idea."

Annie hiccups and giggles. "Yeah. It was a really *hic* bad idea!"

Gale laughs. "Oh my god, you're all going to have the worst hangover in the morning."

**This chapter was supposed to be up a few days ago . . . I was procrastinating and then I had a ton of homework, but now I'm on spring break, so updates should be more frequent! Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Gale's POV**

"Hey," I hand Johanna a bowl of soup. "You feeling any better?"

She wraps her blanket tighter around herself. "No. I still feel horrible."

Three days after the party, Katniss and Johanna both came down with the flu. They've both had it for four days now.

I push her hair off her forehead, and find it soaked with sweat. "Drink some more water." I hand her the bottle. "You need it."

She brings the bottle to her lips and takes a sip. She rests her head on my shoulder and I put my arm around her. She hands me the soup. "I'm not hungry."

"That's because you're sick," I say. "You still have to eat."

I hand the soup back to her, and she grudgingly takes a bite. "Where are Katniss and Peeta?" she asks me.

"In their bedroom," I reply. "Peeta's probably nursing her back to health."

"It's like a race to see who gets better first," Johanna laughs.

"I guess it is," I smile and kiss her forehead. "My money's on you."

Johanna sighs. "My money's on Katniss. That bitch has a strong metabolism. I don't know how she got sick in the first place."

Gale chuckles. "You're cute when you're sick."

"No, I'm not. I'm gross and sweaty."

"In a cute way."

She rolls her eyes. "Fine. Whatever."

I pat her head. "We should take your temperature again."

She shrugs and reaches for the thermometer on the table. She places it under her tongue, and after a minute it beeps. She looks at it.

"103. We could be here for a while."

**Annie's POV**

I climb out of the pool and grab a towel from the bin. I wrap it around my shoulders before walking into the locker room. I quickly shower off and change into a floral sundress.

I dry off my hair with the towel and pull it over my left shoulder before exiting. I see Finnick waiting in his truck outside the pool gates and start walking in that direction.

"Annie! Wait," Sandy calls.

I turn around and she runs up to me. "Can you be a lifeguard tomorrow? I know it's your day off, but three out of the four lifeguards are out with the flu, and an extremely rich man rented out the whole pool for his son's birthday party. I'll pay you."

"I'm not doing anything else," I shrug. "That's no problem. I know that the flu's going around pretty badly. Two of my roommates have had it for days."

"Thank you, Annie! You're a lifesaver," Sandy smiles. "Now run along." She points to Finnick's truck. "You don't want to keep your boyfriend waiting."

"He's not my boyfriend," I say.

"Whatever you want to think," she shrugs. "You don't want to keep him waiting anyway."

I jog up to Finnick's truck and climb in the passenger seat. "Are you working tomorrow?" I ask him.

"Yeah," he replies. "At the adult's only pool. Why?"

"I have to lifeguard a birthday party," I tell him.

"I was a lifeguard in high school," he says. "As a summer job."

"Really? Do you think you could teach me CPR?"

He laughs. "You agreed to be a lifeguard but you don't know CPR?" He shakes his head. "It's actually pretty easy to learn. I'll teach you when we get home."

"Thanks. I owe you one," I grin.

"No problem," he says as the truck lurches forward. We both are carried forward by the momentum. "Shit," he curses. "Do you think you could drive for a minute? 'Cause we're stuck in a hole."

**Finnick's POV**

"Are you serious?!" Annie raises her eyebrows. "Are you going to get out and start pushing the car?"

"That's the plan." I open my door and hop out. "I'm going to see if someone will help me push. You can come with me if you want."

She sighs and gets out of the car. "Are we just going to go up to a random house and ask someone to help us push your crappy car out of a hole?"

"Yep," I reply.

"This is a horrible idea," Annie shakes her head.

"No, it's not. Watch." I walk up the path to a small house. Annie trudges after me. I ring the bell.

Two large men covered in tattoos answer it. Behind them is a small woman. "Hi," I say. "My name is Finnick and this is Annie. My car got stuck in a hole and we were wondering if you could help push it out."

"No," the man on the left growls.

"We'll pay you," I suggest.

"No, we won't," Annie thwacks my shoulders. "Finnick we lost everything. We have no money!"

The woman behind them pushes her way forward. She has blond hair and freckles on her nose. "What do you mean you lost everything?"

"Oh, our apartment building burned down. It was all over the news in early December," I inform her.

She looks at the taller of the men. "Bobby, we have to help them! It's not like we have anything to lose."

"But, Lucie-"

"_Bobby_."

The man called Bobby sighs. "Fine. What can we do to help?"

I grin and turn to Annie. "I told you that it was a good idea!"

She just rolls her eyes. "Let's just get this over with," she says. "We really should get home."

"Exactly."

**Peeta's POV**

Finnick throws the door to the front door open and walks in followed by a very annoyed-looking Annie. "We met three good samaritans," he announces.

Annie sighs. "No, we didn't! They only helped us because our apartment burned down!"

"They willingly helped two strangers push their car out of a hole."

"If you hadn't driven into the hole to begin with we wouldn't be having this argument," Annie throws her hands up.

"Whatever! Let's just go teach you CPR!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

They stomp up the stairs. Katniss, Gale, Johanna, and I just look at each other until I say, "They sound like an old married couple."

Katniss nearly chokes on her pastry.

**I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I got wrapped up in a new book series! Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Katniss's POV**

"Good news," Peeta holds the thermometer in front of him. "Your fever broke!"

"Thank God," I throw my head back. "I am so tired of being sick! I have to teach tomorrow!"

"Well, you should be better by then," Peeta says.

"Thanks, Peeta."

"For what?" he asks.

"Staying with me. I know I get crabby when I'm sick."

"It's no problem. I love hanging out with you," he says. "Besides, you have really good taste in movies."

"You really like James Bond, don't you?"

He laughs. "Who doesn't?"

I lean back in my bed. "Sorry for being such a brat," I say.

"Seriously, you weren't," he swats me playfully in the shoulder.

"You're too nice," I smile and take a sip of tea.

"You sound just like my third grade teacher," he says.

"Your third grade teacher knew what she was talking about. Why'd she tell you that anyway?"

"I took a bird with an injured wing into school," he chuckles. "She took it away from me. I don't know what happened to it."

I grin. "I'd be the kid who through the rock at the bird or kicks."

"I couldn't do that. I love animals," he says.

"I've seen you eat beef."

"That's different. Beef is delicious," he smiles.

"I can't argue with that."

**Annie's POV**

I pull my hair into a ponytail and put on a pair of sunglasses. "So, you're filling in for Kate?"

I whirl around and see a tall and muscular boy. He's probably a little bit younger than me - maybe in his last year of college. He has skin so dark that it's nearly black and neatly cut brown hair. He's grinning at me.

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess."

"Do you know how to lifeguard?" he asks.

I nod. "I did it a few years ago. I prefer being a swim coach though."

"Me too."

I raise my eyebrows. "You're a swim coach?"

He shakes his head. "No. I used to be, but I quit because my schedule couldn't handle it. I'm Kevin by the way."

"Annie," I shake his outstretched hand.

"Great, you two have met," Sandy approaches us. "I need you to do a good job because this kid's dad is seriously rich. He could do some good things for the pool."

"Yes, Cap'n," Kevin salutes. I chuckle.

"I'm serious," she says. "This is really important."

"We'll be great," I say. "Don't worry."

"Okay," Sandy takes a deep breath. "Go to your posts."

Kevin and I each climb up onto lifeguard chairs on opposite side of the pool. He gives me a thumbs up. From where I'm seated, I can see Finnick preparing for his shoot.

Sandy opens the pool gates and a bunch of kids between the ages of ten and fifteen hurry in. Most of the boys just hop in the pool, and the girls find lawn chairs for tanning. Three girls sit down in chairs to my left and start whispering.

I turn my attention back to the pool. Everywhere I look people are either flirting with each other, splashing each other, or dunking the smaller kids.

I hear an impatient finger snap to my left and look down. It's one of the girls who sat next to me.

"Yes?" I ask her.

"Do you know if that model guy is single?" she points to Finnick and I choke back a laugh.

"Why?"

"He's smokin'," one of the other girls replies.

"He's single, but I'm pretty sure he's too old for you. He turns twenty-six in four days."

"How do you know that?" the third girl asks me.

"He's my roommate," I answer. Their mouths fall open.

"He's _your_ roommate?" the first one questions.

I laugh. "Why is that so unbelievable?"

"I figured he lived with some other male models," she replies.

"Nope."

They go back to whispering to each other and I turn back to the pool. A few more people have migrated into the pool, but other than that it looks exactly the same.

I glance up at Kevin and he shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "It goes on for hours."

For the next hour, I sit there, doing absolutely nothing, until something catches my eye. One of the older boys is holding the smallest boy underwater. The little boy is thrashing around.

Kevin and I lock eyes and I tilt my head in their direction. I mouth, "Should we do something?"

He holds up his finger to say, "Give it a minute."

The boy being held goes utterly still. I give him a couple of seconds to move, but he doesn't. Kevin blows his whistle before I do and shouts, "Everyone out of the water!"

Everyone in the pool - with the exception of the boy who was held under - climbs out, confused. Because the boy is closer to him than me, Kevin dives in. I jump off my chair and run around to the edge of the pool. Kevin hoists the boy out of the water and I drag him onto the concrete. I run my hand over his nose and mouth but find no air. Kevin puts his hand on the boy's chest and shakes his head.

"Do you know CPR?" I whisper to him urgently.

"No, I'm from Denver!"

I curse. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

I press down on his chest thirty times and check his airways. Nothing. I plug his nose and blow air into his lungs. Still nothing. I press on his chest again, and he coughs, water dripping down his chin.

The boy who had held him under exhales from behind me, and kneels down next to him. "Oh, thank God! Chris, I'm so sorry! That was stupid of me! I'm so sorry!"

The boy, Chris, stares up at him. "What are you talking about? What happened?"

The older boy pulls him into a hug. "I am _so_ sorry!"

The other kids crowd around the pair, so I push my way out of the crowd. Leaning on the changing room wall is Finnick, his arms crossed over his chest. I grin and walk up to him.

"And the student, becomes the master," he says. Then, because he's Finnick, he adds, "I feel like I should get some credit for that. I mean, if I hadn't taught you CPR, you wouldn't have saved him."

"What are you doing over here, anyway?" I ask. "Shouldn't you be doing your shoot?"

"We came over to see what the commotion was about."

"Well, you and your abs, really should get back over there if you and your abs don't want to get fired."

"Me? Fired?" He scoffs. "Please, Annie, you're insulting me. I'm not going to get fired. I mean, I'm the sexiest man alive."

**Johanna's POV**

"You hungry?" Peeta asks, flopping down beside me on the couch.

I shake my head. "I don't get hungry when I'm sick."

"You should be better soon," he tells me. "Katniss's fever broke this morning."

"Gale," I call upstairs. "You owe me ten bucks! Katniss's fever broke!"

"I'll give it to you later," he says as he comes down the stairs.

The door swings open, and Finnick and Annie walk in. They're both beaming.

"We have a hero in our presence," Finnick announces, gesturing to Annie.

"I'm intrigued," Peeta grins. "Go on."

"Annie gave a kid at the pool CPR. She saved his life."

My mouth falls open. "It really wasn't a big deal," Annie says. "His brother was holding in him underwater and he inhaled too much pool water."

"Annie, that's awesome," Gale says.

"You'll go down in history," I say sarcastically. "I can see it now. The lights. The autographs. The fame. And then I'll be famous by association."

"Johanna, if any of us go down in history, it will be you," Finnick tells me.

"You think so? What for?" I question.

"Rampaging through the streets of Los Angeles, killing innocent bystanders."

I cross my arms over my chest. "Can I get a second opinion?"

**Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Peeta's POV**

"Damn it," Kelly curses.

"What?" I ask her as I put the finishing touches on the birthday cake I'm frosting. It reads: Happy 8th birthday, Bobby!

"I burnt the croissants," Kelly replies. "Can you frost the cookies for me while I remake them?"

"Sure," I give her a little smile. "I'm practically done with this anyway."

"Thanks, Pete," she grins. "I really can't afford to get in trouble with the manager right now."

From the other side of the kitchen, Roberto laughs. "If he ever bothers to show up."

"That's a good point," Kelly laughs shakily.

My phone buzzes inside my pocket. I pull off my gloves and look at it. A text from Katniss: Left my lunch in the fridge. Can't have Jo bring it again! Gale won't pick up his phone. Can u get it?

"Um, Kelly, I actually have to go. Can you ask Janice?" I say. "If Pat _does_ show up, tell him I had a family emergency and I'll be back in twenty minutes."

"What's the emergency?" Roberto asks,

"Nothing," I reply. "I need to bring something to one of my roommates. But I doubt Pat would care for that story."

I reply to Katniss's text with: On my way!

I slide into the front seat of my car and hit the gas. The house is really close to the bakery, so it takes almost no time to get there, and within twelve minutes, I arrive at the school.

The cafeteria and the teacher's lounge are right by the doors, so I walk into the teacher's lounge. Katniss is sitting there with another teacher. Her back is facing me, so I say, "Delivery for Katniss Everdeen."

She turns around and grins at me. "Thanks, Peeta."

"No problem," I say.

The teacher with her looks at me curiously. "Which one are you? The baker or the bartender?"

I smile. "How do you know I'm not the model?"

She smiles back. "Because the model's name starts with an F."

"I'm the baker," I say. "And I really should go, because i'm ditching work."

"I'm really sorry!" Katniss calls as I leave.

"Don't worry about it!"

I drive back to the bakery and slip in the back door. "I'm back," I shout.

I walk into the main part of the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks. Pat actually _is_ here. "Pat," I say. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Where were you, Peeta?" he asks, his arms crossed.

"Family emergency," I reply.

"We're getting very busy, Peeta," Pat says, his tone hard as steel.

"It won't happen again, sir," I say.

"I know it won't," he says. "Because I'm letting you go."

My mouth - along with the mouths of Kelly, Janice, Jared, and Roberto - fall open. "Are you firing me?" I ask.

"Yes," he replies.

"Mr. Kirk, Peeta is an amazing baker," Jared defends me. "His decorations on cakes are st -"

"Do I need to let go of you too, Jared?" Pat snaps.

"He made one mistake," Janice says.

"I was only gone for eighteen minutes!"

"Eighteen minutes too many," Pat says. "Get out."

Still stunned, I turn around and walk out of the bakery.

**Finnick's POV**

"They totally overdid it with the hair gel," I complain as I run my hand through my sticky hair. "Annie, you have to feel this!"

She reaches up and touches my hair. The sticky substance coats her hand. "By God, Finnick! This is ridiculous!"

"I know," I say, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Excuse me," a short, round woman approaches us. "Are you Annie Cresta?"

"Um, yes," Annie replies..

"Great," the woman says. "My name is Sharon Bellefield, I'm with the newspaper. We wanted to do an article on you."

"What did I do that was newsworthy?" Annie asks.

The woman looks puzzled for a moment before answering, "You saved the life of one of the most influential people in the state of California."

"I did? That kid who needed CPR?" Annie raises her eyebrows.

"Yes," the woman, Sharon, replies.

"Of course you get all the credit," I say. "Not me, the one who taught you CPR!" I sigh overdramatically. "I'll go wait in the truck. Just me and my hair gel."

"Calm down, Finnick," Annie rolls her eyes. "I'll be there in a minute."

I grin at her and walk over to my truck. In about five minutes, she slides into the passenger seat.

"Someone's getting popular," I say.

**Katniss's POV**

I push open the front door and find Peeta lying on the couch. "Hey, Peeta, you're never home this early."

"Pat fired me," he pouts.

"What? Why?" I ask, sitting down next to him on the couch.

"Because I was gone for eighteen minutes bringing you your lunch," he says.

"Are you serious?!" I ask. "That's not okay! I'll be back in about ten minutes."

I pick up my car keys and walk back out the door. In less than three minutes, I get to Peeta's bakery.

"Where is this Pat person!?" I ask the man working at the counter.

"Why?" he asks.

"He can't fire my friend for doing me a favor!" I say angrily.

"Oh, so you're the infamous Katniss," he grins. "I'll go tell him that we have an angry customer. Trust me, I want Peeta to get his job back as much as you do." He sticks his head in the doorway to the kitchen and shouts, "Pat! We have an angry customer!"

A muscled man with shaggy dark hair steps out of the kitchen. "Can I help you?" he asks.

"You can't fire my friend," I say. "He loves his job and he's _really_ good at it! He was just helping me out! He was gone for less than twenty minutes!"

"Peeta told me that he had a family emergency," Pat says steadily. "You don't appear to be family."

"He probably lied to prevent himself from getting fired," I say. "He _needs_ a job right now!"

I smile appears on Pat's face. "I can see why Peeta was willing to risk his job to help you."

"Excuse me?"

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll rehire your friend if you go on a date with me."

"You'll rehire Peeta if I agree?" I ask. He nods. "Okay, fine. _One_ date."

"Saturday night," he says.

**Gale's POV**

My boss, Haymitch Abernathy, walks into the bar at closing time.

"Hey, boss," Rita says as she clears the tables. "How's life?"

"Life is life. It's absolute fuckery," he replies. "Anyway, I have an announcement to make. Today was the thousandth day this bar has been open. In celebration, my wife insisted that I invite you all to dinner on Saturday night."

"Thanks, Haymitch," I say. "Can I bring a date?"

"Anyone can bring a date," he replies.

"Rita, are you going to bring that fiance we're all dying to meet?" another waitress, Karen, asks.

"Why are you all so desperate to meet him?" Rita asks, exasperated.

"Because we still haven't received our invitations to the wedding," I say.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it's family only?"

"We won't stop pestering until after the wedding is over," Karen informs her. "We're just annoying people."

"So, are you going to bring him?" I ask.

She sighs. "I suppose I have to."

**Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Finnick's POV**

"Happy birthday," Annie wakes me up by yelling in my ear. "I got you a present!"

I rub my eyes and sit up. "What time is it?" I ask her.

"Two P.M.," she replies. "You slept for a really long time."

"Wow. I've already missed more than half of my twenty-sixth birthday."

"Yeah, well, that's your own fault," she says.

I roll my eyes. "So, what did you get me?"

She walks over to her bed and crouches down to reach under it. "You see, I was shopping with some of my college friends and I saw this T-shirt which immediately made me think of you," she explains. "Remember when I was lifeguarding and you told me that you were the sexiest man in the world?"

"I remember," I say. I neglect to mention that I remember everything regarding Annie with absolute clarity.

She pulls a square-shaped box covered in colorful wrapping paper out from under her bed and hands it to me. I take it from her and quickly unwrap it. Inside is a white T-shirt with black, bold writing on the chest that reads: SEXY AND I KNOW IT.

"Aw," I tease. "I'm so flattered. I didn't realize we had such a close connection. Clearly, we do, or you wouldn't have given me an object of such sentimental value."

She frowns. "You don't like it?"

I laugh. "No, Annie, I love it. It is now the most truthful shirt I own. In fact," I say, pulling the shirt over my bare chest, "I'm going to wear it today."

"You sure? You don't have to if you don't want to . . ."

"Annie," I say, "I really do like the shirt. And I'm honored that you find me sexy."

She blushes deeply. "What I meant was that _you_ find yourself sexy. I never said anything about me."

"So that's the story you're going with?" I question. "Well, at least I'll always know that a part of your brain that tells you who is or isn't sexy holds me in esteem."

Her blush deepens. "Finnick . . ."

"I'm afraid I have no time for love confessions today. After all, it is my birthday," I say.

She throws her hairbrush at me.

**Johanna's POV**

"So is your dinner casual or formal?" I ask Gale as I open my closet.

"Kind of in between," he replies. "My boss is a casual guy but his wife is over-the-top. I'd go a bit more on the formal side but not too much."

I bite my lip and hold two outfits in front of Gale. "Which one?" I question. He points to the one on the left. "I don't see why the dinner is so early. I mean, who eats at 5:30?" I say as I pull a sheer tank top over my head. I button it up the front. "It's kind of ridiculous."

"Just be polite at the dinner, okay?" he pleads. He checks his watch. "Are you gonna be ready in time?"

I check the time on my phone. "It's only 3:30."

"Yeah, but they live kinda far away," he says. "We'll have to leave at 4:45."

"I'll have time to spare," I tell him.

"You sure?"

"Look! I'm already dressed," I reply as I zip up the side of my short, red skirt. "Now, I just have jewelry, hair, and makeup."

He shrugs and walks out of the room. I stick my head out the door and call down the hall, "Annie! Can I borrow the earrings you were wearing the other day. With the triangles."

"Sure," she shouts back. "I think they're on my dresser."

"I know," I say. "I took them this morning. It just felt more polite to ask."

"Okay."

I fasten them on my ear and put a simple, silver necklace around my neck. In an hour, I've done my makeup and hair and I'm stepping into Gale's car.

"Hey, Haymitch," Gale says to his boss as the door swings open. "This is my girlfriend Johanna, but we all call her Jo."

"Nice to meet you, Jo," he says, shaking my hand. "Come on in."

He ushers us inside and leads us to a dining room. Six people are already there: a blonde with fake boobs, a professional-looking man next to the blonde, a woman with dark brown hair put up in a ponytail, a man who looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, a woman - no, more like girl - with her dirty blonde hair in pigtails, and a short, black man.

Gale acknowledges the blonde, the ponytail woman, and the black man. Gale and I sit down at the table.

In a few minutes, a woman with straight, black hair comes in dragging a tired-looking man behind her. She squeals.

"So, Rita, is this the fiance?" she gestures to the man who appears to be the blonde's date/

She nods. "Yes, Karen. This is my fiance, Karl."

And so the dinner begins.

**Katniss's POV**

"Well, this place is . . . interesting," I say as I examine my surroundings. Pat brought me to a restaurant - if you could call it that - in the middle of the ghetto. The paint is peeling off the walls and the tables have gum underneath them. The chairs are horribly uncomfortable and wobbly. Most of the staff and customers look as if they're gang members.

I've never been one to complain. I mean, I grew up in areas like this. There were nonstop gunfights and I occasionally had to take care of Prim when my mom went to check everything out. My dad died when he was caught in the crossfire of two different gangs. But this horrible place is not where I like to spend my Saturday nights.

We take a seat at the booth and order our drinks. A woman and man in suits walk up to the counter and briefly speak to the bartender. The bartender takes off running and the two people pull out guns. "LAPD," the man shouts as the woman chases the bartender. "Everyone on the ground!"

He follows the woman into the kitchen and I stare at the exit they just went through. And that's how my night begins.

**Annie's POV**

"What movie do you want to watch?" I ask Finnick as Peeta hands us both a piece of cake.

Finnick pauses for a moment, thinking, before saying, "Little Miss Sunshine."

I grin. "That's a fantastic choice," I tell him as I search for it.

"I know," he says. "I saw it for the first time when I was sixteen. I don't think I've ever laughed harder."

"I've never seen it," Peeta shares, falling into the recliner.

"You're going to love it," Finnick announces.

He sits next to me on the couch and we start the movie. It takes us all of three minutes to start laughing. About halfway through, Johanna and Gale get back, grab a slice of cake, and join us on the couch. The movie's almost over by the time Katniss walks in, cursing under her breath. Peeta pauses the movie.

"What's the matter, Katniss?" Peeta asks her.

"I just went on the worst date ever," she says as she kicks off her sneakers.

"I'm sure you have nothing on my worst date," Finnick laughs. "My story is traumatizing."

"I don't know, Finnick," Annie says. "Mine's pretty bad too."

"Ditto," Peeta and Gale say simultaneously.

"Trust me, I will win this one," Johanna announces with pride. "You do not want to go up against me."

"Will this go down as the most epic battle of horrible dates in history?" Finnick raises his eyebrows.

"Most definitely."

**So, next chapter is going to be all of them telling the story of their worst dates. Please review!**


	16. Chapter 16

**For all of you who have horrible powers of observation, I changed my username from PatnissEverlark to BooksBeforeLife.**

**Katniss's POV**

"So, Katniss, considering you were the one who just came in muttering profanities about your date, how about you go first," Finnick suggests.

"Fine," I say. "Whatever." I launch into my story. "So, this idiot guy I somehow agreed to go out with brings me to this sleazy diner in the heart of the ghetto. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the ghetto, I grew up there, but this diner had, like, recently released criminals. No one would want to be there. Anyway, these cops come in and the bartender takes off running. The cops chase after him, and someone tells us to stay where we are. In about a minute, the cops bring out the bartender who's in handcuffs. One of them drags the guy into their car and the other one stays to ask us questions. Apparently, they thought that he had an accomplice to whatever it was he was doing. He didn't, by the way. So, I've spent the past three hours with a cop interrogating me as if I was the criminal as opposed to the victim! Can you believe that?"

"Who was your date?" Peets asks, eyebrows raised.

"Just some stupid guy," I reply. I know it will upset him if I tell him that it was his boss, so I don't.

"Well, that sucks," Gale says. "But my story is still worse."

"Mine too," Johanna tells.

"Mine's a little worse," Peeta admits.

"Katniss, I hate to break it to you, but yours isn't all that bad," Finnick says. "Who wants to go next?"

**Peeta's POV**

"I'll go," I say. "Mine isn't too bad anyway."

"Let's hear it," Annie says.

"Well, I was on a date with this girl, Wanda Miller. I'd been going out with her for about three weeks. She seemed nice enough and I invited her to a picnic in the park. We were having a really great time, when this guy comes up to her and says, 'Oh my God, Ashley! I haven't seen you in forever!' I was super confused and Wanda looked panicked. She stuttered for a minute before she got up and ran away. The next day I found out that her name was actually Ashley Weeks, and she'd stolen the identity of Wanda Miller, her high school friend, who'd died in a car accident."

"You were dating an identity thief?" Gale asks. I nod.

"Nice," Johanna says, laughing.

"Yeah," I mutter.

Annie, who's also laughing at me, says, "Okay, I'll go next."

**Annie's POV**

"It was a couple years ago, in my junior year of college," I begin. "I had been dating this guy for a while, and we decided to take a late night walk on the beach. We were kissing and we heard this thump from behind us. We whirled around and saw this middle-aged man who was covered in blood and smelled like drugs. He had his hand over his chest and blood pooling through his fingers. We called an ambulance who came and picked up the guy. Needless to say, that was our last date. I wonder whatever happened to that guy."

"The dying one or your ex?" Johanna asks jokingly.

"The dying one, obviously!" I glance at Finnick, expecting him to be smiling and laughing, but instead I find him staring at the clock on the wall with a distraught look. It's midnight. "Finnick, what's wrong?"

He answers without even looking at me, "They didn't call."

"Who didn't call?" I ask, moving closer to him.

"My parents. They always call on my birthday." He puts his head in his hands. "And now my birthday is over, and they didn't call. They must hate me now."

"Oh, Finnick." I wrap my arms around his shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

**Gale's POV**

"How do they not see it?" Johanna whispers in my ear, eyeing Finnick and Annie. "It's so fucking obvious."

That it is. Annie rubs Finnick's back, her head resting on his shoulder. Finnick's head is laying softly on hers. They're whispering to each other in the way couple's have a tendency to do. They look more like a couple than any actual couple I've ever seen.

Finnick sits up, his bad mode instantly disappearing. "Who's next?"

"I'll go," I say. "I went to a bar to get over this one breakup, and this super hot woman comes and sits next to me. We start flirting and then we go back to my apartment. Keep in mind that I was _very_ drunk. So, we're making out at my place and we fall into bed and right before we start doing it, she says, 'How much are you willing to pay?' It was then that I realized that she was a hooker."

Johanna's jaw drops open. "She was a _hooker_!? Oh my God, Gale, that's pathetic! How did you not know that she was a goddamn prostitute!?"

"It was not my best moment."

**Finnick's POV**

"That's a lot like my story actually," I say, pretending my mini meltdown never happened. "I was at a bar because I was in desperate need of a one-night-stand. I might have been a little bit too frank. I wound up going home with this one woman and, on the brightside, I did get the one night stand I needed. When we woke up the next morning she asked me how much this would cost her. She thought I was a freaking prostitute. I was so mortified, I just grabbed my stuff and ran out of there."

Everyone is silent for a moment, but Johanna breaks the ice by saying, "You do kind of resemble a prostitute."

"I do not!"

"Just a little bit," Johanna says.

"You should've made her pay," Gale muses. "She never would've known that you weren't a prostitute."

"That's just what I want, some random woman thinking I'm a manwhore," I say sarcastically.

"You never know," Annie says sleepily, her head still resting on my shoulder, "it might come in handy some day."

**Johanna's POV**

"Jo, you're the last one," Finnick tells me.

"As much as I hate to beat Katniss's, Peeta's, and Annie's lives of crime and Gale's and Finnick's prostitutional stories, my story beats all of yours," I announce. "My story is also the story of how I lost my virginity. It was my freshman year of college and I'd been dating this guy for a couple of months. He was about four years older than me. Remember that I was completely head-over-heels for him. I thought he was the one.

"Anyway, we went up to this lake house his family owned over the summer. We were, you know, doing it, and all of a sudden, there's this woman yelling profanities at the pair of us. We're just lying there, completely naked, when I figure out that this is his wife. I was his fucking mistress!"

"That sounds traumatic," Katniss says after a minute.

"It was."

"I think we can all agree that Jo wins this competition," Gale says. Everyone nods in agreement, except for Annie, who has fallen asleep on Finnick's shoulder.

"I'm going to bring her upstairs," Finnick whispers, trying not to wake Annie. He picks her up bridal-style and walks up the stairs with her in his arms.

"So fucking obvious," I mutter.

**Please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I am SO sorry for taking so long to get this done! I'm just a lazy, horrible person! Please forgive me! **

**Also, this is mostly a filler chapter, but next chapter we're finally going to get some real Annick action!**

**And I'm skipping ahead a month, so now it's the middle of February.**

**Now onto the story . . .**

**Gale's POV**

"Are Finnick and Annie sleeping in again?" Katniss asks the table.

"Yes," Peeta tells her. "I think the nightmares are getting worse."

"Isn't Annie in therapy now?" I question. "Is it not helping at all?"

"Her therapist is trying to get her to embrace her nightmares. She thinks it will make them go away overtime. At least that's what Finnick understands," Peeta explains.

"I still can't believe they're not together yet," Johanna says as she takes a sip of orange juice. "They would be a really cute couple."

"Who would be a really cute couple?" Finnick asks as he groggily walks into the kitchen.

Johanna smiles and looks at the floor. "It doesn't matter," she says. "Are Annie's nightmares getting better?"

Annie stumbles in after Finnick. "No. They're getting worse."

"You should tell your therapist to try something different," I suggest.

"Yeah . . ." She looks at her hands. "I just want them to stop."

Finnick puts an arm around her. "Hey. It's going to work out fine. Don't worry about it." He pulls her closer.

Katniss and Peeta share a look. A beeping noise comes from Katniss's computer and she goes to check on it.

"Gale!" she calls. "It's Prim and Rory."

I sit down next to her on the couch and smile at my little brother and his girlfriend. "Hey, guys," I say. "I didn't know you'd call today."

"We didn't either," Prim tells us. "But we kind of have something important to tell you."

"Is everything okay?" Katniss asks worryingly.

"Oh, yeah! Better than okay actually. You see -" She holds up her left hand. It has a ring on it. "- we're engaged!"

"Are you serious?" Katniss questions. "Because . . . that's great!" Katniss plasters a smile to her face. "I'd love to talk about it some more, but I have to get to work. Congratulations, you guys!"

She shuts the computer with a huff. "This is most-definitely _not_ great," she mutters.

I cross my arms. "I completely agree with you."

**Johanna's POV**

"You two look glum," I say to Katniss and Gale as they walk back into the kitchen. "Did your siblings break up or something?"

"Worse," Katniss growls. "They're engaged."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see the problem," Finnick says.

"They've only been dating for a few months," Gale announces.

"And they're twenty-one! Just barely adults," Katniss adds.

"Could they maybe be getting married because of a pregnancy?" I suggest. They look as if that solution just dawned on them.

"She sure as Hell better not be," Katniss says.

"If she is then I have to have a serious talk with my brother about the importance of using protection," Gale mumbles angrily.

Katniss mutters something under her breath. "I have to go to work," she says. "And I'm sure I'll get an angry phone call from my mother about me rubbing off on my perfect little sister! This is gonna be a fun day!"

She pulls her lunch out of the fridge, picks up her bag, and storms out of the house. We all stare at where she was a moment ago.

"I have to go to work too," Peeta says, standing up.

"Ditto," Annie agrees.

"I'll drive you," Finnick tells her. "I'm meeting up with some friends for an early lunch and then we're spending the rest of the day at the pool."

"More of your model friends?" Annie teases.

"No," Finnick says. "A couple of my college buddies. Do you think that all of my friends are models?"

Annie just laughs. "Whatever. Let's go."

They exit, leaving just Gale and me. "So . . . I guess it's just you and me," I say, grinning.

"Whatever shall we do?" Gale asks me.

I smile and crash my lips against his.

**Finnick's POV**

"Brick! Patrick! Will one of you toss me the goggles? I'm going to dive for Sean's key," I shout to my friends. My idiotic college roommate, Sean Nathanson, keeps his house key on a band around his ankle and forgot to take it off before he backflipped into the pool. Needless to say, it slid right off.

Patrick tosses me the one pair of goggles we brought to share; I put them on. I take a deep breath before plunging into the water. I see a circular black shape on the bottom of the pool, and as I approach, I see that it's Sean's key. I grab it, and swim toward the air.

"I got it," I call to the guys. I throw it at Sean's lawnchair. "Next time, take it off! Am I the only one who goes to the pool?"

"No, but you're the only one who has a second home at the pool," Patrick says. "We'll get back in. Just give us a minute."

"You guys are such wimps," I mutter. I spot Annie walking out of the locker room and in the direction of the car. "Hey, Annie!" I yell.

I swim over to edge of the pool and she walks over to meet me. "Are you leaving already?" I ask her.

"Yeah, my last student of the day cancelled, so I'm good to go," she tells me.

"You should stay with my friends and me. It'll be fun," I insist.

"It's fine. I'll just wait in the car."

"Annie, please," I say. "My friends are being douchebags. You'll be doing me a favor."

She laughs, making my heart flutter. "Okay," she says. "Let me go change back into my suit."

As soon as she walks back into the locker room. Brick and Sean run up to me, slowly followed by Patrick.

"Nice, dude," Sean says. "Seriously, nice."

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"That chick you were talking to," Brick tells me. "She's smokin'. I mean - I can't believe you're hitting that! You're not horrible-looking, but she's something else."

"Oh," I say, my eyes practically popping out of my head. "You mean Annie. She's not - we're not - I mean -"

"So, you're not sleeping with her?" Brick questions. "Because if you're not hitting that, I am!"

"No!" I snap, surprising Brick and myself. "Brick, she's been through Hell and back these past few months. I will not let you sleep with her, and then dump her!"

"Finn, no need to get touchy," Brick says. "I get it - you like her. You should go after her! You've been with some pretty attractive people, but she beats all of them. Go for it!"

"No! I-I don't -" I begin stuttering but am interrupted by Annie.

"Finnick! Will you tie this for me?" she calls.

Sean and Brick give me looks like, _Go get 'em, tiger_, and Patrick just rolls his eyes. "Sure," I shout to her, pushing myself out of the pool. I jog over to where she's standing.

"This isn't your usual suit," I say as I tie the back of her bikini.

"I have one suit for work and one for fun," she replies. "So, how are your friends doing?"

"They're perverts," I tell her. "Watch out for Sean and Brick. Patrick is married and has a daughter, so you shouldn't have to worry about him but -"

"Finn," she interrupts. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

I grin at her. "Of course, you can. Excuse me for trying to be helpful."

She smiles up at me. "You are excused."

**Annie's POV**

"We really should head home," Finnick says after about an hour with him and his friends. "Peeta's meeting up with his brothers tonight and Johanna, Gale, and Katniss are all horrible cooks."

"That's probably a good idea," I agree. "It's our civic duty to make dinner before Katniss tries to."

"Definitely," Finnick says.

We swim to the side of the pool and climb out. I dry off with a towel and throw on a coverup. Finnick just puts on his SEXY AND I KNOW IT t-shirt.

"You really like that shirt, don't you?" I say.

"I really do," he tells me. "You did a great job picking this out." He turns to his friends in the pool. "Hey, guys! We have to go!"

"Okay," Sean shouts. "Have fun."

"Will do," he calls.

We start walking back to the car. "Sorry about my friends," Finnick says to me. "Sean and Brick are creeps."

I laugh. "Finnick, don't worry about it. They _are_ terrible flirts, but my mom taught me how to ignore guys like them a long time ago."

"I still feel bad," he admits.

"You shouldn't." I climb into the passenger seat of Finnick's truck. "Plus, Patrick was smart and polite. I had a couple of good conversations with him."

"So . . . you don't totally hate me for pressuring you into staying?"

I roll my eyes. "Finnick, you should really realize this by now: after all you've done for me, I could _never_ hate you."

**Please review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**First, I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. Second, I've gotten a few requests for Johannick. I'm just going to tell you that it never works out when I try to write about Johanna and Finnick as a couple, and I've always preferred Annick anyway. While I appreciate the feedback, I will not be writing that in this story. **

**Also, this chapter talks a lot about sex. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'd just graze over the next few chapters so you know what's going on. I never actually write about it explicitly, because I really want to keep the rating T. You'll see what I mean during this chapter.**

**This takes place about a week after last chapter ended.**

**Annie's POV**

"Don't just stand there, Annie! Help me!" he yells at me. "Annie, _please_!"

I try to run to him, but I can't. My feet won't move. It's like I have no control over my limbs. "Goddamnit, Annie!" he shouts. "I need you! Come back!"

The fire is spreading rapidly; the ceiling and walls are beginning to collapse. "Annie! Help! I'm trapped, Annie!"

I feel myself being pulled backwards, away from my little brother.

"Annie!" he screams. "Annie, you're my big sister! You have to protect me! Annie!"

"Jason!" I call, struggling against the force pulling me away. "Jason, I'm sorry! I love you, Jason!"

He just stares at me with a look that shows betrayal in his eyes as the ceiling collapses in on him. "Jason!" I scream.

"Annie," the force dragging me away says soothingly. "Annie! Annie, wake up! It's not real, Annie. Just wake up. Annie. Wake up!"

My eyes snap open. Though blurred with tears, I can make out Finnick's face above mine, and I recognize the feel of his hands gently shaking my shoulders. A sob escapes my lips, and Finnick pulls me into him.

"It's okay, Annie. It was just a dream. You're here, now. You're safe." He combs my hair down as I cry into his shoulder. "I'm here. You're okay."

"I-I'm so sorry," I sob. "I-I'm such a p-pain. I k-keep you up at n-night. I only c-cause problems! I'm so sorry, Finnick!"

"Shh," he soothes. He gently moves my face away from his shoulder and cups my face in his hands. He wipes my tears away with his thumbs. "Annie, listen to me. You're not a pain. We're all lucky to have even met you. You brighten our lives on a daily basis. Yeah, you wake me up in the middle of the night. So what? It's so worth it. I'd do so much more if it meant keeping you in my life. Do you understand that, Annie?"

I sniff. "Y-Yeah. B-But you shouldn't have to bother with me. It's not fair to you. Finnick, I'm crazy. I'm actually crazy. I've gone mental. I-I can't even -"

"I wouldn't think you're crazy if you said the sky was purple and made of hedgehogs! **(If anyone can tell me what book I took that from, I will be so happy.) **Annie, you are the most extraordinary person I've ever met. Don't even think you're anything less. I've met a lot of people in my life, and I've never met anyone like you. This world has practically _no_ truly good people. They're either too selfish, or too grouchy, or too cocky, or too self-absorbed, or too bitchy. You're not."

"Finnick, you don't have to say things like that just to make me feel better," I say.

"I'm serious, Annie." He stares at me with those gorgeous sea-green eyes that match my own. They portray total honesty. He looks at my comforter and bites his lip. "You know I'm not a religious person, so I really have nothing to base this on, but I think you're the closest thing to an angel this world has got. So, if the angel has a couple of flaws, so be it."

He looks back up at me; we just stare into each others eyes for a moment. He leans down and captures my lips.

I just sit there, stunned. He pulls away. "I'm sorry," he says. "I shouldn't have -"

I cut him off by pulling his lips back down to mine. His rough lips feel perfect against my soft ones - as if they were created simply for this purpose.

The kiss quickly becomes more heated - a sensation of lips, teeth, and tongues. Before I realize what we're doing, my tank top and Finnick's sweatpants are off.

And then more. And more. Until there's nothing but skin.

**Peeta's POV**

"Oh my God," Katniss whisper/yells. "Do they not realize that we can hear them?!"

"I'm not sure," I say, referring to the moans and screams coming out of Finnick and Annie's bedroom.

"Do they have no shame?" Katniss looks like she's about to be sick. "I really don't want to hear this."

"_THAT'S THE SPOT!_" The words echoes through the hallway.

"That's it! Peeta, pack an overnight bag. We're leaving." Katniss yanks a drawer open and shoves some clothes and a toothbrush in a bag. I do the same.

We step into the hallway at the same time as Gale and Johanna, who are also carrying overnight bags.

Johanna scowls. "Can you believe them?! It's so inconsiderate!"

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Katniss informs us.

"Seriously?" Johanna asks her. "You're a grown woman. Don't you know what sex is like? It really isn't nauseating. Just rude to those who live under the same roof. You really are a child."

"Jo, you know you're just pissed that you were woken up at this time of night. Don't take it out on Katniss," Gale says. "Let's just go to the hotel."

"_OH MY GOD, ANNIE!_"

We all look at the room the sound originated in. "Yeah," I agree with Gale. "Let's go."

**Finnick's POV (the next morning)**

Annie and I wake up at the same exact time. We realize where we are, notice we're naked, look at each other in shock, and tumble out of the bed, Annie covering herself with the comforter and me with the sheet.

She looks at me with wide eyes. "Did we just -"

"Yeah," I say before she finishes the question.

"Were we -"

"No. We weren't drunk or high."

"Then how -"

"I have no idea."

"This was a mistake," Annie says.

"Probably," I agree.

"What were we thinking?"

"I wish I knew."

"We shouldn't do this again. Or talk about it. Ever again."

"I completely agree." I nod.

"Okay," Annie says, blushing brightly. "I'm going to take a shower."

She turns and walks toward the bathroom door. "Well . . ." I begin.

She turns around. "Yeah?" Was it just me or was there hope on her face?

"I mean - it was rather good."

"Definitely," she agrees.

"It would be a shame if it were only a one time thing . . ." I trail off.

Annie bites her lip. "I suppose that makes sense."

"It's settled, then," I say. "You can take your shower now. I'll just take one tonight. And we have work in about an hour, so hurry up."

"Okay."

She closes the door behind her. I collapse onto my bed. _Oh my God_, I think. _Did that really just happen?_

_Yes, Finnick, you know that it did. You're not an old man, you're memory is completely intact_, my mind replies unhelpfully.

I just can't believe it all happened so quickly. Over the past week, I realized how attracted I really am to Annie. But I really didn't expect our relationship - if it even is a relationship at this point it's not - would start like this. But it did. So I'll just have to make the most of what I've got. Which was actually a lot, but that's not the point. **(A/N: That probably made no sense, but it's late and I'm tired. It's the best I've got at this point.)**

I force myself to walk over to my closet and get dressed - my limbs feel like jello. I groan as I pull a T-shirt over my head. Lack-of-sleep seems to be catching up to me.

Annie walks out of the bathroom, fully dressed. "Wanna go see what Peeta made for breakfast?" she asks.

"Sure." I smile at her. She smiles back.

We walk downstairs in a comfortable silence. I quickly make note of the lack of voices coming from the kitchen.

"Do you think that we're the first ones awake?" Annie asks, apparently having noticed the unusual quietude.

"No," I say as I spot a note on the counter. "They left a note." I read aloud. "'A + F- We all went to a hotel. See you this afternoon. -Peeta' I wonder why they went out."

"Maybe there was some sort of show going on," Annie suggests.

"Probably, but this means the only food is leftovers."

**Katniss's POV**

"You look like shit," Cole informs me as he slides into a chair in the teacher's lounge.

"Way to boost a girl's self-esteem, Cole," I mutter.

"Though Cole could have been less insensitive, he's right. You look like you've had a rough morning," Lisa says.

"More of a rough night," I tell her. "Two of my roommates thought it would be a good idea to start sleeping with each other. At about three a.m., I went to a hotel, but the bed was unbelievably uncomfortable. I only got three hours of sleep."

"Which of your roommates decided it would be fun to keep you up with their sexual intercourse?" Beth asks.

"Finnick and Annie. I mean - we all saw it coming, but they could have been more considerate."

"Is that the bitch and the baker?" Cole asks.

"Seriously?" I ask him. "I've lived with these people for months, and you still can't match names with occupations? Finnick is the -"

"Wait!" Lisa interrupts. "I want to see if I can get this right. Finnick's the model. Annie's the swim coach. Johanna's the bitch. Peeta's the baker. And the bartender is -" She concentrates very hard. "- Gale?"

I raise my eyebrow at her. "That's right."

Beth nods her approval. "I'm impressed, Lisa. I certainly wouldn't have remembered all of that."

"Well, I _am_ the only one who actually listens to Katniss," Lisa teases. "It only makes sense that I know what she's talking about."

"Well, she never has anything interesting to say," Cole defends. "Unlike me. Did I ever tell you about the time I biked across Europe? Oh man, those were the days!"

Beth, Lisa, and I prepare ourselves for another boring-ass story.

**Please review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**School started again for me last week, so updates might be slightly farther apart. Maybe. I can never really predict these things. Also, the quote from last chapter was from **_**Clockwork Angel**_** by Cassandra Clare, which you should read if you haven't already read it. **

**This chapter takes place a week after the last one ended (again):**

**Annie's POV**

"Annie," my therapist, Jasmine Reynolds, says from her doorway, "you can come in now."

I stand up and follow her into the room, closing the door behind me. Her office is small but cozy. Unlike most therapists, she has adorable pictures of animals on her walls- like pictures of two kittens drinking from a faucet and a dog and an elephant who are best friends - instead of all her accomplishments. She keeps all her files locked up in an oak desk, as opposed to in a big metal filing cabinet. There's a dark gray recliner for her patients to lay on, along with a chair for herself.

I make my way over to the recliner, as usual, and start talking before Jasmine has a chance, "I know that you specialize in trauma, but can I ask you about something that has nothing to do with the fire?"

She looks confused. "Of course, Annie. What is it?"

"Okay. I really hope you won't think any less of me when I tell you this, and I don't think you will, 'cause you seem kind of laid back and hip." Which is true, she's only a few years older than me and doesn't seem to be some kind of religious nut.

"I promise not to judge you for anything you might have done," she reassures me. "This is a safe haven, Annie. You know that."

"Right," I say. "Okay. I can do this." I take a few deep breaths.

"You don't have to say anything if you're not ready. I don't want to push -"

"I started sleeping with my roommate," I blurt out. "And I know that I'm supposed to be a good, righteous Christian girl - my parents raised me that way - but I'm not married, and I'm having sex! I was a _virgin_, and now I'm not! My brother would kill Finnick! My dad would have a fucking heart attack if he knew! My friends would -"

"Woah, Annie, you need to calm down. First off, do you actually like your roommate romantically?" she asks me.

"Yes," I reply instantly. "Yes, I do."

"And why are you freaking out?"

"Because this isn't like me. I mean - I don't sleep with guys. Not if I'm not married to them. Much less when I'm not in an actual relationship with them!"

"So, you're just friends with benefits right now? And you're not happy with that?"

"Well - no. I guess I'm not. But Finn isn't really the kind of guy for serious relationships - or maybe he is. God, I don't know!" I put my head in my hands.

"Annie, I'm telling you this as a friend, not as a therapist. What you need to do is tell him that you need a real commitment if he wants to stay with you. Tell him you need to have a romantic relationship, and if he can't handle that, you can't see him anymore. Got it?"

I nod. "Yes."

"Good. Now, I really shouldn't be asking you this, but I will anyway: How good is he? On a scale from 1 to 10."

I chuckle slightly. "11."

**Gale's POV**

My phone rings just as I walk into the bar, and I answer on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Gale, I'm freaking out." Rory gets right to the point.

I sigh. "Is this about the wedding I still don't approve of?" I ask him. "Because if it is, I am not the person to come to."

"No, it's not about that. But you have to promise not to tell anyone," he says, shakily.

"Rory, come on -"

"Gale, I'm serious." This time, I can hear the depth of the worry in his voice.

"I promise I won't tell anyone," I say. "Now, what is it?"

"I need twenty thousand dollars," he tells me.

My eyes widen as I walk into the back of the bar, so no one hears me. "What?"

"I need twenty thousand dollars," he repeats.

"Rory, I don't have that kind of money," I say.

"Gale, please. I really need it," he pleads.

"Look, I can give you three thousand. That's all I can do. I'd give you more if I could, but I don't have the money."

"They'll kill me, Gale! My blood will be on your hands!" His voice breaks on the last word.

"Damnit, Rory! What did you get yourself into?!" I whisper/yell into my phone, not wanting to be heard.

"I borrowed money from the wrong person," he replies. "Let's leave it at that."

I take a deep breath. "I'll see what I can do. Does Prim know?"

"No! She can't find out," he insists.

"Rory, she's your fiance! You'll be putting her in danger by not telling her!"

"Please, Gale. _I can't_. Just help me out!"

I sigh. "I'll do what I can."

**Finnick's POV**

I lay in my bed, waiting for Annie to get back. It's been a long day, and I need a distraction.

I hear the creak of the door opening. "Hey," Annie says.

"Hey." I stand up. "I've had a rough day. Mind distracting me?"

I kiss her before she even responds. She kisses me back, but then tenses up and pushes me away lightly. I look at her in confusion.

"Finnick," she says, "I can't keep doing this." She steps backward.

"What?" I ask. It feels like a ton of bricks are dropped on my heart. And my penis, because I can't leave that sounding so ridiculously cheesy.

"I can't do things like this without a real commitment," she clarifies.

"Like, a romantic commitment?" I ask.

She nods. "Yes. We need to be an actual couple, or I just can't keep going like we are."

My eyebrows shoot up. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," she confirms.

I grin. "Annie, that's what I've wanted for a while. I just didn't think you wanted it too."

The shock is evident on her face. "Really?"

"How could I not?" I ask. "Now, get back here, because you look gorgeous right now, and I really want to take your clothes off."

She smiles. "Sounds good to me."

**Johanna's POV (noon, of the next day)**

"We come bearing gifts," I announce as I walk through the door to the house. Gale comes in after me. "We have noisemakers, obnoxiously loud fans, a couple of - Finnick, Annie, I didn't realize you were here."

"What's all the stuff for?" Annie asks.

Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and I stare at her in shock. "You're kidding, right?" Gale finally asks.

"I don't know why you got them either," Finnick says.

"We got them to block out the sound of you two going at it like bunnies every night!" I inform them.

Finnick and Annie gape at me. "You can _hear_ us?" Finnick asks just as Katniss says, "Bunnies?"

"Yes, we can hear you," I snap. "These walls are paper thin. I've gotten next to no sleep in the past week. And yes. Bunnies."

"That's why you went to the hotel a few nights ago?" Annie questions, color filling her cheeks.

"Well - yeah," Gale says. "You're really loud."

"Oh my God," Annie mutters. "This is the most embarrassing moment of my life." And she walks out of the room.

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